When asking Google - what the etymology of the "robot" word is, the answer is from Czech word "robota" which is they translate as "forced labor". While I don't speak Czech, I speak Polish which is a close cousin. For years it didn't occur to me that "robot" and the shortened "bot" words have slavic etymology. In Polish "robić" means to do (carry out, perform etc.) something. "Robię kawę" means "I'm making a coffee" a…
The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
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Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#42When asking Google - what the etymology of the "robot" word is, the answer is from Czech word "robota" which is they translate as "forced labor". While I don't speak Czech, I speak Polish which is a close cousin. For years it didn't occur to me that "robot" and the shortened "bot" words have slavic etymology. In Polish "robić" means to do (carry out, perform etc.) something. "Robię kawę" means "I'm making a coffee" a…
Speaking of Slavic etymology and robota, "slave" is derived from "Slav".
Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#43I wonder what's the IMDB id of that...
Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#44When asking Google - what the etymology of the "robot" word is, the answer is from Czech word "robota" which is they translate as "forced labor". While I don't speak Czech, I speak Polish which is a close cousin. For years it didn't occur to me that "robot" and the shortened "bot" words have slavic etymology. In Polish "robić" means to do (carry out, perform etc.) something. "Robię kawę" means "I'm making a coffee" a…
In Russian, работа simply means "work" or "job" without any negative connotation.
Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm Czech and while those two languages are close, "robota" is really forced work in Czech. What you called "robota" in Polish is called "práce" in Czech. In Czech, "Robota" is forced work and has bad connotations. See https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robota . It's interesting that this page doesn't have Polish translation.
In the region where I was growing up next to Poland, we say "chodit do roboty" when describing normal work.
Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#46Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd translate "robotnik" as a "worker". A "person who is doing something" sounds a bit too general. Nevertheless, it's easy to guess that the root of the word is the same verb.
So “robota” would cover a personal or job-related chore and “robotnik” is a person performing such a chore?
"Robotnik" means *manual* worker. E.g. someone fixing roads, or working in a factory.
"Pracownik" is a generic word for "employee". Can be an office worker or an manual worker.
"Robić" basically means "to do". While "pracować" means "to work". As you can notice one is more formal than another.
"Robota" is a less formal word, something closer to a "gig" (however it also means "work" or "job"). You will probably not find it in written texts. In writing "praca" (work) sounds more formal.
As a bonus, if you are a (manual) worker who complains and makes some not subtle digs about your job, you can say that you "have to go to your kołchoz tomorrow" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkhoz ). As the communist slogan said "work is your second home" after all :)
On a side note, do Czechs really like the polish word "pomidorek"? (Little tomato)
Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#48When asking Google - what the etymology of the "robot" word is, the answer is from Czech word "robota" which is they translate as "forced labor". While I don't speak Czech, I speak Polish which is a close cousin. For years it didn't occur to me that "robot" and the shortened "bot" words have slavic etymology. In Polish "robić" means to do (carry out, perform etc.) something. "Robię kawę" means "I'm making a coffee" a…
Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#49Re: The man who coined the word "robot" defends himself
#50His robot was hijacked to mean a mechanical man with gears and wires inside and he objected to that. I'm thinking of course that the public only had experience with these things — or perhaps this was another fear of the time, the mechanization of jobs, and so the robot became the perfect avatar for this fear and so evolved. But surely the idea of a mechanical man predates the term, robot. Automatons? Or is the distin…
I don't think those were equivalent at first.