When we say "procedure", we immediately think of doctors or waiting in front of an official's office. There is a longing and a feeling that we have entered the world of Franz Kafka's works, where the expectation is eternal, and the hero's affairs are hopeless. But we are ready to protect the word from an unjust and too gloomy interpretation. Therefore, let's look at what the procedure is and discuss the details.
Meaning
Certainly, the word exudes officiality. Every time we go to an institution, we need to go through a procedure. For example, we go to the bank to withdraw money or check the interest that is accrued on our savings. We have to go to the bank, press a button, get a number in line, wait and ask the operator what we are interested in. This is the usual procedure, it is almost inevitable.
Why are we so obsessed with officiality? Dictionary immediately comes to mind. Let's see what it says about the object of study:
- Official procedure,doing, discussing something (bookish).
- Separate session of physiotherapy (e.g. bath, shower, massage), hardening, body care.
It turns out that there is either a medical meaning of the concept, or an official one. But is it? It seems that language practice suggests a wider range of meanings for the word "procedure".
Origin
To reveal the true meaning of the word, we need to look into the depths of centuries and see the truth there, which is stored under the veil of time. Simply put, let's open the etymological dictionary. Without his data, the next section with synonyms will be incomprehensible, so we are slightly ahead of the events.
For those who doubt whether it's Latin or French, let's say it's a borrowing from French, but in the base, of course, Latin. There is a French word procédure, which is derived from the Latin proceder, which means “to move forward.”
For the modern ear, the definition seems strange, because our procedure is more like a movement in a circle. Such a view is possible if you look at the world with eyes tired of everyday worries: each procedure resembles running in a circle. But if you think about it, thanks to the procedure, we are really moving forward, for example, we get money in the same bank as a result, that is, we achieve results. Therefore, the word is not so terrible in its foundation, and we need more rest.
Process and other synonyms
After it became clear that everything is not so bad, you can move on to synonyms for the word "procedure". And here the reader would be in for a surprise,if we had not yet dismantled the origin of the word. So the list is:
- order;
- operation;
- event;
- session;
- ceremony;
- process;
- ritual.
All the synonyms included in the list are beyond doubt, yes, even the "ritual" does not bother. After all, ritual is not only a church or religious word, but if we interpret it more broadly, then this is the order of things, the established order of actions. The process might cause bewilderment, but after referring to the etymological dictionary, this cannot happen. As you can see, "procedure" is a multifaceted word that cannot be simply taken and enrolled unambiguously in one of the departments, official or unofficial. After all, it is sometimes found in poetry, for example, in V. S. Vysotsky.
The established order of things
Life, as mentioned earlier, is full of rituals. No, it's not that many suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, it's about something else. A person gets up, brushes his teeth, gets ready, goes to work, does about the same thing every day, returns. Then he spends time at home plus or minus the same every day. Thus, everyday life, on the one hand, is a blessing, and on the other hand, it turns our life into a procedure, and this saddens some. And those who do not have an established everyday life grieve over its absence. The man himself does not know what he wants.
This is all for what? Moreover, outwardly it may seem that the ritual or procedure is meaningless. But it's not. The rituals tell us thateverything is in order, everything is in the usual way, and the procedure, since somewhere inside it contains movement forward, allows our life to go towards the goal.
