 Often mistreated by their overseers, the traveling craftsmen developed xíriga sometime around the 18th century as a defensive or private language in order to be able to talk freely in front of their employers/masters.Because it originated with poor working men who were largely illiterate, xíriga had no written form, and the language began to disappear with the decline of the "tejeros" although one can still hear it spoken occasionally by relatives or descendants.The words created for or adopted into the language provide some insight into the social life, customs and beliefs of its original speakers—for example, there are a large number of verbs that translate "to rob" and many of the words are crude, blunt, or intended as insults.