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>“passion” is a translation of the Greek word πάσχειν paschein, which means ‘to suffer’ A word's etymology has no bearing over its current usage. It just tells
by dbbolton 12y ago
>“passion” is a translation of the Greek word πάσχειν paschein, which means ‘to suffer’
A word's etymology has no bearing over its current usage. It just tells you where it came from. Assuming that the original Greek meaning is somehow "correct" and the modern usage is an adulteration is a prescriptive fallacy.
- mturmon 12y agoI felt like the link between "passion" and suffering was quite poetic and worth thinking on. People claim to be passionate about various things, but this root is a reminder that this passion, if it's genuine, is likely to be connected to suffering in some way. You work so hard that you suffer, you are so devoted to a cause that you suffer. Passion isn't free. Passion may not be controllable, but insofar as it is, maybe some caution is advised around it? Especially when "passion" is becoming a job requirement, and people are being asked to find a passion. I've seen lots of home pages and twitter summaries claiming "passion" about the oddest technical sub-areas. "Passionate" about web standards? "Passionate" about DevOps? Maybe so, but make sure it's a price worth paying.
- dbbolton 12y agoI wasn't arguing against this particular instance because it was just reinforcing an analogy, rather than actually prescribing an obsolete definition (which is sadly frequent).