Occupational Sickness
When I first learned this word, it's one of those that just makes sense. I tried thinking of an English equivalent, sure that we had some word to describe this very common occurrence. But try as I might, my brain came up with nada. So I just settled on Occupational Sickness. 職業病. Zik1 jip6 beng6.
I might have been influenced by Princess Sickness 公主病 gung1 zyu2 beng6 (just search it or Carlos Douh on Youtube if you don't know what that is) to use the word sickness, because Cantodict translates it as "occupational disease." Sickness just seems catchier (hehehe).
You might be able to figure this term out on your own, but if not, it's basically when aspects of your job start influencing the rest of your life. Like how graphic designers always get twitchy when they see lines that aren't straight or fonts they don't like. A great April Fool's joke would to go around at night and change all the signs to Papyrus.
But I digress. The first time I heard the term "occupational sickness" was when I was at language exchange. My friend is a nurse who mainly works with children. Occasionally they will have older patients come in, and that is when she gets into trouble. She told me she had been treating a middle-aged man who finally asked her,
"Please, nurse, can you stop asking me to give you my itty-bitty hand?"
I can feel her pain. I am a fellow sufferer. For five years, I worked as an English teacher/tutor. Day in and day out I corrected people's English, from pronunciation to usage to grammar. I didn't always stop at correcting them; I might even write it on the board and turn it into a quick grammar lesson!
You know how hard it is to turn that off? People will not appreciate you interrupting their epic travel story to tell them that they "drank all the beer" not "dranked all the beer." Let me tell you, correcting people's grammar is a great way to make enemies and influence no one.
Over the years, I've learned to reign it in, to seal my lips, to chomp down on my tongue. No matter how egregious the error, I usually ignore it. Well, unless they're language exchange partners, the error impedes understanding so has to be clarified, or we're pretty good friends. Now I go overboard and don't correct people even when others in the conversation will.
I'm proof that even if this sickness can't be cured, at least it can be controlled. What about you? Do you suffer from occupational sickness? There's no need to be ashamed. At least it's not 公主病 .
I might have been influenced by Princess Sickness 公主病 gung1 zyu2 beng6 (just search it or Carlos Douh on Youtube if you don't know what that is) to use the word sickness, because Cantodict translates it as "occupational disease." Sickness just seems catchier (hehehe).
You might be able to figure this term out on your own, but if not, it's basically when aspects of your job start influencing the rest of your life. Like how graphic designers always get twitchy when they see lines that aren't straight or fonts they don't like. A great April Fool's joke would to go around at night and change all the signs to Papyrus.
But I digress. The first time I heard the term "occupational sickness" was when I was at language exchange. My friend is a nurse who mainly works with children. Occasionally they will have older patients come in, and that is when she gets into trouble. She told me she had been treating a middle-aged man who finally asked her,
"Please, nurse, can you stop asking me to give you my itty-bitty hand?"
I can feel her pain. I am a fellow sufferer. For five years, I worked as an English teacher/tutor. Day in and day out I corrected people's English, from pronunciation to usage to grammar. I didn't always stop at correcting them; I might even write it on the board and turn it into a quick grammar lesson!
You know how hard it is to turn that off? People will not appreciate you interrupting their epic travel story to tell them that they "drank all the beer" not "dranked all the beer." Let me tell you, correcting people's grammar is a great way to make enemies and influence no one.
Over the years, I've learned to reign it in, to seal my lips, to chomp down on my tongue. No matter how egregious the error, I usually ignore it. Well, unless they're language exchange partners, the error impedes understanding so has to be clarified, or we're pretty good friends. Now I go overboard and don't correct people even when others in the conversation will.
I'm proof that even if this sickness can't be cured, at least it can be controlled. What about you? Do you suffer from occupational sickness? There's no need to be ashamed. At least it's not 公主病 .
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