Working Out of the Office

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

There was a time when I worked in a hospital years ago that I literally punched a time clock.

And then later, when I was a newspaper reporter in this big cube of a building, I would go there every day.

And I was expected to be in the building when I wasn’t out reporting.

And then later I did the same kind of work for magazines, only from the office in my house.

And at that point, I called myself a freelancer.

And I really liked that term because it connotes the idea of a medieval knight who’s not particularly beholden to one king.

He’s more of a mercenary kind of agent.

But there’s another growing work style that I think is in need of a term.

What do you call it, Grant, when you work for a company and then they let you move across the country and work someplace else, but you’re still working for the same company?

It’s just remote work or telecommuting.

Yeah, telecommuting.

There’s other couple names for that.

Yeah.

Yeah, virtual worker.

So you’re saying the home office is still, say, in Delaware, but your home is in California and they don’t have an office near you.

Right.

The writer Michael Erard has written about this as well, and he finds problems with the terms virtual and telecommuting.

They just sound either insubstantial or antiquated.

And he’s been suggesting working in place.

Working in place?

Yeah.

What do you think about that?

People who work in place.

I work in place.

I think it automatically requires an explanation.

I mean, maybe we’ll get to the day that it doesn’t.

But right now, literally every time you use it, you’re going to have to explain it.

There’s nothing transparent about it.

I mean, I know you’re working, but what does in place mean?

Yeah.

It’s sort of like the idea of sheltering in place or aging in place, working in place.

You’re working wherever you are.

If I’m traveling in Thailand, I’m still working.

If I’m at home, I’m still working.

If I’m at a conference, I’m still working.

I like that.

I get that now, but it did require an explanation.

I see.

But it kind of reminds me of being out of pocket.

Like you’re on your own dime for now, and then the company will kind of take care of you later to settle expenses.

Yeah.

I’m not totally convinced about that word.

I kind of like working remotely.

Working remotely works.

And that’s transparent.

The two words are pretty clear, right?

But I think the larger point is that more and more people are doing this, and I’m wondering what our listeners call this.

So if you work outside the office for a company that’s not near you, or maybe it is near you, but for some reason you’re just not in the office, what do you call that?

The jobs that you can take your laptop anywhere and get everything done.

As long as you have your phone and your laptop, you’re good to go, whether or not you’re in the Arctic or the desert or the jungle or wherever.

Yeah, does working in place work for you?

Yeah, does it? Or is there something new or a term that you use? 877-929-9673. Email words@waywordradio.org.