"Colleague" is a word that immediately reminds a person of work. Whether an association of this kind is fair, we will analyze today. Of course, it will not do without a brief historical digression.
Origin
As you can understand, "colleague" is not a Slavic word, but a Latin one. It came to us, in Russia, from the Polish language at a time when Peter the Great was actively borrowing not only foreign technologies, but also overseas words. However, opinions differ here, and some experts argue that the word "colleague" came to us directly from Latin. It means "jointly elected". It is also interesting that in ancient Rome, "colleagues" are those people who worshiped the same god.
Who can be a colleague?
As mentioned at the beginning, the first association that the word "colleague" evokes is certainly related to work. You can meet a person on the street and ask him: "Colleague - who is this?" A passer-by, most likely, without hesitation, will say that colleagues are people with whom a persondivides the premises, for example, an office from 9 to 17. And this is the correct interpretation, but it is wrong to think that it is the only one. In addition to work, people can be tied:
- study;
- hobby;
- interests;
- beliefs.
And surprisingly, all those forms and spheres of human activity that stand behind the above definitions are covered by the meaning of the word "colleague". And many people don't even think about it. What can I say, such is the great and mighty Russian language.
About humor, irony and the meaning of the word
The connection between “colleague” and “work” is so ingrained in the mind that other meanings are simply not perceived by a person. That is, the majority understands when they say "colleagues at work." But if the word is given a different meaning, then it seems that the person is being ironic. A “colleague” outside the labor context looks slightly pretentious and out of place, therefore a word torn out of its usual environment seems like a mockery in relation to the one to whom it is addressed. To be fair, this is usually the case.
If you recall the popular talk show hosted by Dmitry Nagiyev, he often called the participants of the action “colleagues” in it. Although only one thing could unite them - acting. Thus, on the one hand, D. Nagiyev quite definitely mocked the people involved in the show, and on the other hand, he transparently hinted to the viewer that the whole performance was a performance.
Coworker - who is this?
After it became obvious that the word "colleague" is almost bottomless inmeaning, we can analyze in more detail the phrase that everyone uses without even thinking. However, despite the worn out expression, not everyone can be exactly clear what is at stake. In this case, we are talking about the phrase "colleagues at work." Usually, when they say this, they mean people who are in the same room 8 hours a day. For example, a person asks a person:
- Who is this?
- These are work colleagues.
In the imagination, a picture is immediately drawn that people work in the same team, and they are connected, as a rule, by “horizontal” relationships, that is, they do not fundamentally differ in salary and functions.
Note that, for example, we are unlikely to call a boss a “colleague” right off the bat, although technically it is. But there is a sense of distance and heterogeneity between the two people. At the same time, the leader can be the kindest and most beautiful person, but still the distance will remain, because the person depends on the boss, on his opinion of himself.
You can even make a strange assumption that will join together the historical origin of the word and the modern meaning. The Romans were colleagues, they were united by one god, to whom they prayed. Modern work colleagues are united by one boss, whom they try to serve, please, so as not to lose their position.
If we return to the linguistic layer, then, strictly speaking, colleagues are all those people who share with a person his life (in all its diversity), interests and beliefs. Hierarchy and subordination have absolutely nothing to do with it. A colleague is a person who is close in spirit or profession to his fellow.
