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> An old Slavic word robota (slavery is a good translation)... This is unequivocally false. I speak both Czech ans Slovak, with the word robota being Czech in
by 0x4477 6y ago
> An old Slavic word robota (slavery is a good translation)...
This is unequivocally false. I speak both Czech ans Slovak, with the word robota being Czech in origin. Robota either means work in general, or manual labour specifically. It does not, nor has it ever, meant slavery. The word for that would be otroctvo in Slovak or
otroctví in Czech.
- colechristensen 6y agoWould the meaning have shifted in the last hundred years?
- 0x4477 6y agoNot in the way you indicate, especially since there is already a dedicated word for slavery. To the best of my knowledge, robota still refers to work (as in one's job) or labour in general. I most frequently encounter the word robota when I or someone else announces that they are leaving to go to work by saying 'Idem do roboty.' There isn't really any ambiguity to it and I have never seen the word used as some sort of analogy or synonym for slavery (certainly not in common parlance, though I'm sure it has been used that way somewhere, sometime). If someone wishes to talk about slavery, they will use the appropriate word.