"Colleague" is a word that immediately reminds a person of work. Whether an association of this kind is fair, we will disassemble 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 the time when Peter the Great actively borrowed not only foreign technologies, but also foreign words. However, opinions differ here, and some experts say that the word “colleague” came to us directly from Latin. So it is "jointly chosen." It is also interesting that in ancient Rome, "colleagues" are those people who worshiped the same god.
Who can be a colleague?
As said at the beginning, the first association that the word “colleague” evokes certainly refers to work. You can meet a person on the street and ask him: "A colleague is who?" A passerby, most likely, without hesitation, will say that colleagues are people with whom a person shares a room, for example, an office from 9 to 17. And this is a correct interpretation, but it is incorrect to think that it is the only one. In addition to work, people can be connected:
- study;
- hobby;
- interests;
- beliefs.
And what is surprising, all those forms and spheres of human activity that are behind the above definitions encompass the meaning of the word “colleague”. But many people don’t even think about it. What can I say, this is the great and mighty Russian language.
About humor, irony and the meaning of the word
The connection between the “colleague” and the “work” has become so ingrained in consciousness that other meanings are simply not perceived by the person. That is, the majority understands when they say "work colleagues." But if the word is given a different meaning, it seems that the person is ironic. Outside the work context, the “colleague” looks a little pathetic and out of place, therefore the word torn out of the usual environment seems to be a mockery to the one to whom it is addressed. In fairness, it must be said that this is usually the case.
If you recall the popular talk show hosted by Dmitry Nagiyev, then he often called the participants in the action "colleagues." Although only one thing could unite them - hypocrisy. Thus, on the one hand, D. Nagiyev quite definitely scoffed at people involved in the show, and on the other hand, he transparently hinted to the viewer that the whole performance was a performance.
Who is a work colleague?
After it became obvious that the word “colleague” is almost bottomless in meaning, we can analyze in more detail the phrase that everyone uses without even thinking. However, despite the erasure of the expression, not everyone can be sure what they are talking about. In this case, we are talking about the phrase "work colleagues." Usually, when they say so, they mean people who are in the same room 8 hours a day. For example, a person asks a person:
- Who's that?
- These are work colleagues.
In the imagination, a picture is immediately drawn that people are working in the same team, and they are usually connected by “horizontal” relations, that is, they do not fundamentally differ in salary and functions.
Note that, for example, we are hardly likely to call a boss a “colleague,” although technically it is. But there is a sense of distance and heterogeneity of 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 about himself.
You can even make a strange assumption, which will close together the historical origin of the word and modern meaning. The Romans were colleagues, they were united by one god whom they prayed. But modern work colleagues are united by one boss, whom they try to help, like, so as not to lose their position.
If we return to the linguistic layer, then, strictly speaking, colleagues are all those people who share his life with a person (in all its diversity), interests and beliefs. Hierarchy and subordination have nothing to do with it. A colleague is a person who is close in spirit or in profession to his brother.