Tag: work

Best of “Foreign Lands”

Dear Readers,

After renewing its website, “Words in Ideas” is preparing its 3rd year of fresh new articles, starting in October. While you wait, you can read (or re-read) the best articles under the category “Foreign Lands”. These articles aim to compare languages and cultures.

 

 
During the first year, articles described some traditional food around the world. Here are the 5 best:

 

 
In the 2nd year, we followed the discoveries of a group of language learners. Here are the 5 best:

 

 
This 3rd year, “Words in Ideas” will discuss some cultural crossroads.

 
If you wish to comment or send suggestions, please fill in the form at the end of each website page.

Thank you!
Words in Ideas
https://wordsinideas.com/
 

The work, le travail, die Arbeit, el trabajo

“I declare the first gathering of The Foreign Lands’ Explorers open,” said Jack and everyone clapped and cheered. “The topic for today is ‘the work’.”

“’El trabajo’, in Spanish; ‘il lavoro’, in Italian; ‘o trabalho’, in Portuguese,” said Leo.

“’Le travail’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Die Arbeit’, in German”, said Michael.

“’Arbejdet’, in Danish; ‘arbeidet’, in Norwegian; ‘arbetet’, in Swedish”, said Sophia.

“’Trabajo’, ‘trabalho’, and ‘travail’ come from Latin. The original word, at the time, was related to a torture instrument with three stakes. I have no idea how it progressed, but we can assume that there was a connection made somewhere by common people between ‘work’ and ‘torture’…”, explained Leo. “The Italian word comes from the Latin word ‘labor’, which was the official and standard word for ‘work’ at the time. In Spanish, French, and Portuguese a similar word also exists with a similar meaning, but usually is used in handcraft work or in the farming context. It makes sense because at the time most of the work was related with agriculture. In English, we can also see this word being used in some contexts, like in ‘labour market’.”

“Actually, there is a similar situation in German. The word ‘Werk’ also means work in a more formal manner, but it is mostly related with factories and the like. Both words ‘Werk’ and ‘work’ have the same origin. In English language the word ‘labour’ can be used, but it’s more commonly used in the farming context”, added Michael.

“Then, there is ‘job’, which can mean a task or an employment”, said Jack.

“In Spanish and in Portuguese the word is the same, but there is also the word ‘empleo’ and ‘emprego’, respectively, for ‘employment’, which is similar to English”, informed Leo.

“Yes, ‘employment’ was adopted to English via French, whose word is ‘emploi’. In French slang you can also say ‘boulot’”, added Elizabeth.

“Ok, what about ‘unemployment’? In Swedish is ‘arbetslöshet’, in Danish is ‘arbejdsløshed’, and in Norwegian is ‘arbeidsledighet’”, said Sophia. “Basically it means ‘without work’”.

“In German is not so different: ‘Arbeitslosigkeit’”, added Michael.

“In French is ‘chômage’”, said Elizabeth.

“’Chômage’?! Where that came from?”, asked Jack.

“It comes from the Latin word ‘caumare’, which means to take a break during the heat”, explained Elizabeth.

“That doesn’t seem to make much sense…”, laughed Sophia.

“Well, try working during the heat and you’ll probably start to see some sense…”, commented Jack. “We all have to learn the ropes with those who came before us.”

“Learn the ropes? What do you mean?”, asked Leo.

“It’s an idiomatic expression that means learning to do a job”, answered Jack. “It was used when new sailors had to learn how to tide the ropes in sailing boats.”

“As they say in Germany: ‘die Arbeit, die uns freut, wird zum Vergnügen’. This means ‘the work that we enjoy becomes pleasure’”, said Michael.

“Unless you ‘tombes dans le panneau’”, said Elizabeth. As everyone stared at her, she explained: “You can fall into a trap”. Then everyone went “Ahhhh”.

“You can always take a ‘föräldrapenning’, as the Swedish say. Or ‘foreldrepenger’, in Norwergian. Or ‘forældreorlov’ in Danish”, said Sophia.

“What exactly is that?”, asked Leo.

“Parental leave”, clarified Sophia.

“Oh, ‘congé parental’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Permiso parental’ in Spanish; ‘congedo parentale’, in Italian; and ‘licença parental’, in Portuguese”, said Leo.

“’Elternurlaub’, in German”, said Michael.

“Well, you would have to have a child first…”, commented Elizabeth.

“I declare the first gathering of The Foreign Lands’ Explorers open,” said Jack and everyone clapped and cheered. “The topic for today is ‘the work’.”

“’El trabajo’, in Spanish; ‘il lavoro’, in Italian; ‘o trabalho’, in Portuguese,” said Leo.

“’Le travail’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Die Arbeit’, in German”, said Michael.

“’Arbejdet’, in Danish; ‘arbeidet’, in Norwegian; ‘arbetet’, in Swedish”, said Sophia.

“’Trabajo’, ‘trabalho’, and ‘travail’ come from Latin. The original word, at the time, was related to a torture instrument with three stakes. I have no idea how it progressed, but we can assume that there a connection was made somewhere on the way by common people between ‘work’ and ‘torture’…”, explained Leo. “The Italian word comes from the Latin word ‘labor’, which was the official and standard word for ‘work’ at the time. In Spanish, French, and Portuguese a similar word also exists with a similar meaning, but usually is used in handcraft work or in the farming context. It makes sense because at the time most of the work was related to agriculture. In English, we can also see this word being used in some contexts, like in ‘labour market’.”

“Actually, there is a similar situation in German. The word ‘Werk’ also means work in a more formal manner, but it is mostly related with factories and the like. Both words ‘Werk’ and ‘work’ have the same origin. In the English language, the word ‘labour’ can be used, but it’s more commonly used in the farming context”, added Michael.

“Then, there is ‘job’, which can mean a task or an employment”, said Jack.

“In Spanish and in Portuguese the word is the same, but there is also the word ‘empleo’ and ‘emprego’, respectively, for ‘employment’, which is similar to English”, informed Leo.

“Yes, ‘employment’ was adopted to English via French, whose word is ‘emploi’. In French slang, you can also say ‘boulot’”, added Elizabeth.

“Ok, what about ‘unemployment’? In Swedish is ‘arbetslöshet’, in Danish is ‘arbejdsløshed’, and in Norwegian is ‘arbeidsledighet’”, said Sophia. “Basically, it means ‘without work’”.

“In German is not so different: ‘Arbeitslosigkeit’”, added Michael.

“In French it is ‘chômage’”, said Elizabeth.

“’Chômage’?! Where did that come from?”, asked Jack.

“It comes from the Latin word ‘caumare’, which means to take a break during the heat”, explained Elizabeth.

“That doesn’t seem to make much sense…”, laughed Sophia.

“Well, try working during the heat and you’ll probably start to see some sense…”, commented Jack. “We all have to learn the ropes with those who came before us.”

“Learn the ropes? What do you mean?”, asked Leo.

“It’s an idiomatic expression that means learning to do a job”, answered Jack. “It was used when new sailors had to learn how to tide the ropes in sailing boats.”

“As they say in Germany: ‘die Arbeit, die uns freut, wird zum Vergnügen’. This means ‘the work that we enjoy becomes pleasure’”, said Michael.

“Unless you ‘tombes dans le panneau’”, said Elizabeth. As everyone stared at her, she explained: “You can fall into a trap”. Then everyone went “Ahhhh”.

“You can always take a ‘föräldrapenning’, as the Swedish say. Or ‘foreldrepenger’, in Norwegian. Or ‘forældreorlov’ in Danish”, said Sophia.

“What exactly is that?”, asked Leo.

“Parental leave”, clarified Sophia.

“Oh, ‘congé parental’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Permiso parental’ in Spanish; ‘congedo parentale’, in Italian; and ‘licença parental’, in Portuguese”, said Leo.

“’Elternurlaub’, in German”, said Michael.

“Well, you would have to have a child first…”, commented Elizabeth.

 
After this introduction to the topic, they decided to compare the name of some professions in different languages. They started with the firefighters.

While in the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic languages the focus is on fire (they are the people of the fire / those who fight the fire), in Latin languages the focus is on the pumps that were used at the beginning of firefighting (they are the people of the pumps).

Between ‘assistant’ and ‘host’ / ‘hostess’ or ‘steward’ / ‘stewardess’, there is not much difference.

In this case, except in the Spanish language, the expression is very similar to all other languages. “Journalism” was a term born in the 18th century in France and comes from “jour”, as in “report every day”. In Spanish, “newspaper” is “periódico”, hence the “periodista”.

In German and in the Nordic languages, the word refers to an instructor, someone who provides training for someone to acquire a skill, which has a similar meaning for “teacher”, although the root is different. The perspective is “to show how it’s done”. In Latin languages, the perspective is “someone who dominates an art and transmits its knowledge to their disciples”. In these languages, the teacher is regarded as a kind of “keeper of knowledge”. This is even more emphasised in Spanish, where the teacher is considered a “master”. Actually, in the other Latin countries, a teacher used to be called “master” and in some contexts it is still the case.

 
As it was getting late, they decided to wrap up. They could discuss and compare terms in different languages for hours, but they all had classes the next morning. However, when everyone was preparing to leave, Leo remembered something.

“Do you know the origin of the word ‘salary’?”

Everyone looked at Leo.

“Salt was extremely important during the Roman Empire. So, it was the reference to pay soldiers what was due to them. It was the ‘salt portion’ they could have. They still use that term in English, in Portuguese (‘salário’), in French (‘salaire’), and in Spanish in certain contexts (‘salario’).”

“If it’s a constant pay, for example every month, it’s ‘sueldo’. If it is an irregular pay it’s a ‘salario’”, said Elizabeth.

“Exactly”, confirmed Leo. “It’s similar in Italian: ‘salario’ is an hourly pay whereas ‘stipendio’ is a fixed pay”.

“That’s also similar in German. If it’s fixed it’s ‘Gehalt’ and if it’s variable it’s ‘Lohn’”, said Michael.

“Ah, in Swedish it’s ‘lön’, in Danish it’s ‘løn’, and in Norwegian it’s ‘lønn’”, added Sophia.

And, on that note, they reluctantly went back home.

 

Keyword: WORK | The purpose of work

In his book “Work: A History of How We Spent Our Time”, James Suzman starts by defining what work is. He goes back and forth, discussing different angles, and comes to the conclusion that “work” is every activity living beings (humans, animals, plants, and fungi) do, for which they need energy. This means that, under this definition, what some people consider “leisure” is actually “work” (in fact, the same activity can be considered “leisure” by some and “work” by others).

According to James Suzman, the concept of “leisure” was born when humans learned how to master fire and they found time to spare between hunting and recollecting food. Instead of “doing nothing”, they dedicated themselves to painting, building tools, and creating accessories (like necklaces). This means that, just like other animals, plants, and fungi, humans have the compulsory need to be engaged in some kind of activity. Once the energy intake is secure, imagination is the limit of what one could do.

As imagination evolved, so did the number of activities and their complexity. After figuring out how to plant and master crops, everything changed. Humans were now able to store “energy” to consume later, which gave them even more time without being worried about hunting and recollecting. They began to plan yearly: there was a time to sow, a time to let crops grow (controlling pests and the like), and a time to harvest. Then, during winter, as humans didn’t hibernate, they were “free” to do what they liked. Usually that meant making big constructions (like Stonehenge, for example). For these purposes, communities were needed and societies were developed. Hierarchies and specializations were ever more consolidated. Besides, as the agricultural fields were being exhausted, people had to move to other lands. Thus, migration commenced.

Fast-forward to our highly complex and globalized society, in which people move around all the time, we can see where imagination and “free time” has led humanity. People still work to sustain themselves and their families (that haven’t changed) and they still use their free time to do other things they find more interesting (that haven’t changed either). What is changing is the purpose, the meaning of work.

At some point during the Industrial Revolution, workers fought for the idea of having 8 hours per day of work, 8 hours of free time (to have fun and spend time with the family), and 8 hours of rest (mainly to sleep). It was also believed that the 8 hours of free time was the most important of them all. Hence, the hobbies, the focus on the family, the holidays and day outs. People would work to make money to meet the needs of survival, and their compensation was to have fun in their free time.

Now, people are realizing that work is actually more important, that it builds their sense of self. So, it needs to have meaning to themselves and to the community. People relate to work more than it was expected during the Industrial Revolution and having fun after hours is just not enough. Besides, people are working increasingly more hours. The 8-8-8 balance is getting lost (if ever was a reality). As a result, the separation between work life and personal life is also getting lost. In truth, this separation only made sense during the Industrial Revolution, when people went to work in the factories and then went back to “their own life”. With the rise of “flexible working hours” and “working from home” it feels like we are going back in time, when people were developing agriculture and their own life was intertwined with the work they did.

As we can read in James Suzman’s book, developing agriculture throughout thousands of years was hard work filled with much frustration. Farmers would probably have felt they had enough of it many times over during the course of their lifetime. When the Industrial Revolution came, moving to the cities to work in the factories was like a promise of a better life. After all, they wouldn’t depend on climate to have their earnings; they would have a salary at the end of the week or the month. However, this type of work brought with it a number of new problems, and workers had to deal with them in new ways: hence Unions and social fights that are part of history.

Nowadays we have burnouts, stressful objectives to be met, toxic working environments, fierce competition, long hours of work… We are also witnessing the emergence of new ways of work, like: the 4-day work week, remote work, hybrid work. We have an enormous variety of different jobs and the possibility to change jobs. Specializations are not the end of the line. If we think back, before the Industrial Revolution, farmers’ children didn’t have much choice. And whoever started a trade would hardly switch to another trade. Today, there are infinite possibilities (or so it seems).

The future is unforeseeable, although many experts are busy trying to predict it. However, one thing seems to be certain: people need to work, whatever may that turn out to be.
 

Keyword: WORK | “Levantado do Chão” [” Raised from the Ground”], by José Saramago

The first meeting of The Intrepid Book Society was held on a chilly Sunday afternoon. Summer was definitely over, but winter was still far away. Instead of lazing on the sofa in front of television, the members of the Society put on their warm coats and headed to the local library. Mr John Booklish, the President and co-founder of the Society, was the first to arrive. He needed to open the library and prepare the room, which had been kindly made available for that purpose. Ms Clara Smartest, the Vice-President and co-founder, arrived shortly after and helped him by placing the chairs around and putting some drinks and biscuits on a table. The other members arrived on time one by one and they all sat on the chairs.

Mr John Booklish officially opened the meeting briefly introducing the book under discussion: “Levantado do Chão”, by Jose Saramago. Before he would go on about the story of the book, he made a bibliographical note about the author.

“Jose Saramago was born in Portugal into a family of landless farmers. As such, his family struggled financially. Even after moving to the capital, Lisbon, where they found slightly better living conditions, they always had little money to spare. As he grew up, Jose Saramago was unable to buy books, but he often went to the local library. He started to develop some literary knowledge and he later wrote his first novels. However, now with a family of his own to support, he had to work to make money. Thus, literary affairs were put aside. In the meantime, he got involved in political matters, which got him fired from his job. Luckily, he found a new job in a publishing house, where he worked in the operations department and as a translator. Later, he became a journalist for many years until he got fired again for political reasons.

“This time, he decided to dedicate himself to writing literary books. He moved to a place called Lavre, in the Alentejo region, to research for his first ‘serious’ book: “Levantado do Chão”. Although he had been born in Ribatejo (a different Portuguese region north of Alentejo) he could relate with the landless farmers that were the majority of the population there. The result was a story written in a totally different style. This was the first book of a new style, which was so unique he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for it, many years later.”

After a little pause, Mr John Booklish added: “However, ‘Levantado do Chão’ is distinctive from the subsequent novels Jose Saramago wrote. Although the style is similar, contrary to the other novels, ‘Levantado do Chão’ is based on true events. It is a fictional story, but could have been a true one. The national and local events mentioned in the book happened. His other novels are based on ‘parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony [that] continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality’ (in the Nobel Prize official website). Therefore, ‘Levantado do Chão’ is a literary work like no other, which bore the seeds of his extraordinary literary work”.

“So, in a nutshell”, Mr John Booklish concluded, “this is the story of the Mau Tempo family (‘Bad Weather’ family). It starts somewhere at the beginning of the 20th century and ends somewhere after the 1974 Revolution. While we read about what is happening with the family, we also get to know about what is happening in Portugal at the same time because the political events directly affect the family. They all work the land, but they don’t have a land of their own. They work for the landlords when there is work to be done. When there is no work, there is no money, and no other way to make money. The landlords know this and take advantage of it by paying as little as possible, and forcing them to work from sunrise to sunset. Then, an idea emerges among the workers: to fight for better pay and less working hours. And here is when problems arise.”

At this point, Ms Clara Smartest decided to intervene, saying that the book was a political statement, a reflection of the author’s political involvement. After all, it was not by chance that he decided to write his first “serious” novel about his topic. He wanted to show how difficult the life of landless farmers was, a life of misery, without any hope of improvement. Well, at least during three-quarters of the 20th century. It also aimed to show how brutal the dictatorship was and the struggle farmers endured while fighting for better working conditions, which were due and fair.

Although not disagreeing with this entirely, Mr Jeremy Toughready said that the story showed how resilient the farmers were, and how that helped create a strong will and a strong mind. They were prepared for everything that might come, not afraid of the consequences. They just went for what they wanted and for what they thought it was right, despite political affiliations. What he meant, he added, was that they did what they did not because of some political belief, but because it was just right.

Ms Clara Smartest agreed and said that was precisely the point. Political belief resulted from what people thought was right. Obviously, the landlords thought that the regime at the time was the right one because it defended their interests. That was why it only took the landlords to call the Guards for the farmers to be arrested.

Miss Martha Lovefeelings interrupted saying that was true, but the novel also talked about love. It was possible to find love even in the hardest possible conditions and to build families even with very little money. The family stayed together because of what they felt about each other and those feelings were what made them stronger. To this, Mr Mark Mindhearting strongly agreed and added that it showed how the toughest guys could also be capable of feeling the purest love.

Ms Johanna Practicewell, who was feeling bored with all that sentimentality, mentioned how interesting it was to see the evolution of the country from monarchy to republic and then ending in a dictatorship… until the revolution took place and everything changed. And yes, the story was about a landless farmer family, but at the beginning, the man who gave rise to the family was a drunken shoemaker, forced to move from town to town due to the troubles he would make wherever he went. Plus, he mistreated his wife and neglected his children. That was during the monarchy. Then, the men of the family changed tune during the republic and the dictatorship and women began to be treated with more respect.

Ms Clara Smartest said that was because of their political beliefs. The shoemaker didn’t have any political beliefs. Thus, he didn’t have any purpose in life.

Miss Martha Lovefeelings replied that taking care of his family should have been a strong enough purpose, but it wasn’t. He was just a bad man.

Mr Jeremy Toughready added that it was different times. Fighting tyranny had nothing to do with taking care of the family. It was a joint effort. Other people were relying on them. It would put everything in another perspective.

“Your family is relying on you”, exploded Miss Martha Lovefeelings.

“Yes”, said Mr Jeremy Toughready, “and that is why those men are more attentive to their families. Exactly. They realize that their fighting buddies are relying on them and they have responsibilities. They recognize they also have responsibilities towards their families because what they are fighting for will benefit them as well. It’s all connected”.

Mr Mark Mindhearting intervened saying that the shoemaker was a selfish man, he only thought about himself. He didn’t have the sense of community their children and grandchildren developed.

The debate went on for a while longer around these topics until Mr John Booklish closed the meeting. He thanked everyone for coming and he scheduled the next meeting for 3rd November, informing the book for the following month: “Das Boot”, by Lothar-Günther Buchheim.

All members confirmed it and left the library, still commenting on that month’s book on their way out. Ms Clara Smartest stayed behind to help Mr John Booklish to clean the room and close the door. Then, they said farewell until the next meeting.