Unfortunately, confusion with "campaign" and "company" is not uncommon. Even news headlines on the Internet contain such typos. It is not necessary to give examples of them - so as not to crash into memory.
An embarrassing oversight does not lie in wait for someone who knows exactly the meaning of the word that he will use. The words "campaign" and "company" are part of the daily vocabulary.
What's the difference?
The distinction between a campaign and a company only seems blurry at first glance, because both words are about people.
The secret of the difference between these concepts is simple. A company is always a community of people. A campaign is an action, military or peaceful, but it is an activity for a specific purpose. There is a big difference between a company and a campaign.
In Russian, these concepts are different, as in all other languages. But by ear, they coincide in oral speech, since no one pronounces "O" as[o], but only as [a]. We got words that sound the same - homophones.
In English, things are much simpler. Company is company. Campaign - campaign. They are also pronounced differently.
The origin of these words in Latin is fundamentally different. "Campaign" has its origins in the word campus (field). "Company" - in the word panis (bread), to which the prefix com is added. In the first case - battlefields or agricultural work. In the second, a group of people eating together.
Companies of people
Currently, a group of people gathered together can eat their own bread, pizza, drink tea or dine together. The company can just walk in the park or gather around a fire in the forest, can play music and sing. The main thing is that the company is suitable. As O'Henry said:
A person can fall into a bad company in two cases of life - when he is penniless and when he is rich.
By the fire, at the festive table, a good company will surely gather - friends, buddies, acquaintances. It has long been known that a good feast is not just delicious food, but interesting interlocutors. For a company, the most important goal is to have a good time together.
Companies producing goods and services
But what about industrial companies? Trading, manufacturing? They are "companies" too. In essence, these are large groups of people working together, and sometimes resting together, eating,celebrating important events.
And yet the word "company" takes on another meaning, indicating a firm, business, enterprise, business, organization.
These companies want to be in demand, exceptional, successful. Lawrence "Larry" Page, developer of the Google search engine, is credited with these words:
If we did everything for money, we would have sold the company a long time ago and were relaxing on the beach.
And more:
Google is not a regular company and has no intention of becoming one.
It's easy to remember that in a large and small manufacturing company, only like-minded companies work well together.
Campaigns - political, electoral, military
A campaign is always an activity, an action, some action. For example, in the computer games "Napoleonic Wars" there are different campaigns - in Italy, in the Middle East, the European campaign.
By the way, the great commander Napoleon Bonaparte himself claimed:
You can win the fight but lose the fight.
You can win the battle but lose the campaign.
You can win the campaign but lose the war.
There are other results of campaigns. Admiral Nelson won both the battle and the entire naval campaign, Britain became the mistress of the sea. Without losing a single ship in the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelsondied himself.
Election campaigning, speeches, shows, nominating activities is also a campaign. Three years ago, in June 2015, newspapers wrote that Donald Trump chose the slogan of his campaign "Make America Great Again!"
Any active and purposeful political activity is also a campaign. The struggle for peace, for women's rights, for environmental security are socio-political campaigns that meet with great support in society. Everyone is familiar with advertising campaigns for the introduction of goods and services.
In general, there have been no campaigns in the history of mankind: against sparrows in China, against cosmopolitans in the USSR, against domestic violence in Europe. The American campaign against the Vietnam War was called the Pentagon March.
Of course, people can form companies and groups to participate in public and political campaigns. But what exactly is the difference between a company and a campaign - everyone needs to know.
