Linguistics Talk Linguistics Talk    FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Seen in the wild          Linguistics Talk Forum Index -> Linguistics Talk View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message LFS Guest Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:00 pm    Post subject: Seen in the wild I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. -- Laura (emulate St. George for email) Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor John Kane Guest Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild On Jul 4, 11:00 am, LFS <la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote: Quote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. -- Laura (emulate St. George for email) I've never heard it used in Canada. It sounds very weird indeed. John Kane Kingston ON Canada Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor tinwhistler Guest Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild On Jul 4, 8:00 am, LFS <la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote: Quote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. -- Laura (emulate St. George for email) My search at Google-News brought up 48 current usages, all from the UK, including this rather droll one: Stagflation May Lead to Worklessness The Spoof (satire), UK - Jun 13, 2008 There is little or no chance of unemployment rising in the UK either because we also have a word called worklessness to keep us safe from unemployment ... -- Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Marius Hancu Guest Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild FWIW, it seems to have be seen by these AmE editors (see the last line in the definition) ------- work·less Function: adjective Etymology: 1work + -less 1 obsolete : not accomplishing any work or effect : not functioning 2 obsolete : not carried out in practice 3 : being without work or out of work : UNEMPLOYED, JOBLESS - work·less·ness noun -es M-W Unabridged ----------- Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Garrett Wollman Guest Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild In article <6d6s9bF155rnU1@mid.individual.net>, LFS <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote: Quote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". [...] Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I've never seen the word before, but I could almost see a use for it, at least in a context where someone was insisting that "unemployment" could only have its formal, government-economist gloss. The unemployed would be a subset of the workless. (This following from the official definition that to be "unemployed" one must be actively seeking employment; "workless" includes all those who are "not in the labo(u)r force".) -GAWollman -- Garrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are wollman@csail.mit.edu| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Don Phillipson Guest Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:47 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild "John Kane" <jrkrideau@gmail.com> wrote in message news:0a1098a8-157f-44c0-9c82-ed1d9034fe33@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com... ..>On Jul 4, 11:00 am, LFS <la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote: Quote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. I've never heard it used in Canada. It sounds very weird indeed. But Canadian media often use "jobless" as an adjective and a noun. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Paul Wolff Guest Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:04 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild LFS <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote Quote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. That knocked over a line of mental dominoes which led to my wondering what 'feckless' might be a euphemism for. Apparently it's effectively 'effectless'. Probably coined in Mumbles, that delightful spot on the Costa Abertawe and home of the world's first regular passenger railway. Not that this answers any question so far posed; but it might save one later. -- Paul Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Robert Bannister Guest Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:31 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild LFS wrote: Quote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. Crossthreading with "conservative" thread, perhaps it's a synonym for "fecklessness". I wonder what a "feck" is. -- Rob Bannister Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Peter Duncanson (BrE) Guest Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:31 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:31:33 +0800, Robert Bannister <robban1@bigpond.com> wrote: Quote: LFS wrote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. Crossthreading with "conservative" thread, perhaps it's a synonym for "fecklessness". I wonder what a "feck" is. Effectively, a "feck" is an "effect". http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=feckless&searchmode=none feckless 1599, from feck, "effect, value, vigor" (1470), Scot. shortened form of effect; popularized by Carlyle, who left its opposite, feckful, in dial. obscurity. So a feckless person is ineffective, valueless, vigorless. -- Peter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor R H Draney Guest Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 7:20 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild BrE filted: Quote: On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:31:33 +0800, Robert Bannister robban1@bigpond.com> wrote: Crossthreading with "conservative" thread, perhaps it's a synonym for "fecklessness". I wonder what a "feck" is. Effectively, a "feck" is an "effect". http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=feckless&searchmode=none feckless 1599, from feck, "effect, value, vigor" (1470), Scot. shortened form of effect; popularized by Carlyle, who left its opposite, feckful, in dial. obscurity. So a feckless person is ineffective, valueless, vigorless. The Roadrunner is feckless; he does nothing to avoid the traps laid for him, and yet he's never harmed.... The Coyote, on the other hand, is made up almost entirely of feck....r -- What good is being an executive if you never get to execute anyone? Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor LFS Guest Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:02 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild Paul Wolff wrote: Quote: LFS <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. That knocked over a line of mental dominoes which led to my wondering what 'feckless' might be a euphemism for. Apparently it's effectively 'effectless'. Probably coined in Mumbles, that delightful spot on the Costa Abertawe and home of the world's first regular passenger railway. Not that this answers any question so far posed; but it might save one later. Apparently not, since SPs have not read this. -- Laura (emulate St. George for email) Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Robert Bannister Guest Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:09 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote: Quote: On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:31:33 +0800, Robert Bannister robban1@bigpond.com> wrote: LFS wrote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". I assumed it must be a new, politically correct coinage but to my surprise OED has citations from the late nineteenth century. Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I think I would have noticed if the unemployed were being referred to as the workless. Crossthreading with "conservative" thread, perhaps it's a synonym for "fecklessness". I wonder what a "feck" is. Effectively, a "feck" is an "effect". http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=feckless&searchmode=none feckless 1599, from feck, "effect, value, vigor" (1470), Scot. shortened form of effect; popularized by Carlyle, who left its opposite, feckful, in dial. obscurity. So a feckless person is ineffective, valueless, vigorless. So Carlyle had a greater feck on English than I supposed. -- Rob Bannister Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Roland Hutchinson Guest Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:20 am    Post subject: Re: Seen in the wild Garrett Wollman wrote: Quote: In article <6d6s9bF155rnU1@mid.individual.net>, LFS <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote: I've just been reading a document that refers to "worklessness". [...] Is this a commonly used synonym for unemployment that I just happened to have missed so far? I've never seen the word before, but I could almost see a use for it, at least in a context where someone was insisting that "unemployment" could only have its formal, government-economist gloss. The unemployed would be a subset of the workless. (This following from the official definition that to be "unemployed" one must be actively seeking employment; "workless" includes all those who are "not in the labo(u)r force".) That was my reaction, too. -- Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food. NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         Linguistics Talk Forum Index -> Linguistics Talk All times are GMT Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum Linguistics Talk----------------Linguistics Talk  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum Australian Debt Consolidation Experts medical insurance Wedding Websites Portali e siti di annunci di escort, accompagnatrici e massaggiatrici US Swinging Open Source Talk Make Your Own Website Free phone calls to Canada Cleaning Service mold killer UK Swingers Genuine Contacts Site Free Cams office chairs Sex Bondage Sanitaire Vacuum Parts 140 Attacks blocked Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group