Offshore

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Dr. Goodword
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Offshore

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Nov 10, 2014 12:14 am

• offshore •

Pronunciation: awf-shorHear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, transitive

Meaning: To outsource or subcontract a high-paying job overseas to a less developed country where wages are significantly lower.

Notes: The adjective offshore usually means in the ocean, away from the shore, as an offshore oil drilling rig or an offshore bank account located on an island. It is a poor candidate for the meaning it has picked up recently. "Outsource overseas" would be more precise, but then that's two words and we are always in a hurry.

In Play: Since the adjective is being used widely as a verb meaning "outsource overseas", we want you to be prepared for it: "US computer programmers are complaining that their jobs are being offshored to programmers in India, China, and Pakistan." Companies turn to offshoring as a means of reducing costs: "Our personnel manager, Gladys Friday, offshored all the jobs in our company except her own and those of top management."

Word History: Shore is the modern form of Old English skora "shore, beach". It apparently derives from a Proto-Indo-European word, (s)ker- "cut", with another of those Fickle Ss that come and go under mysterious circumstances. Apparently our ancestors associated shores and bank as things water cuts into. Since the PIE [k] became [h] in English, it also gives us shear and share. Score, in the sense of cutting a mark into something or adding points in a game, was borrowed from Old Norse. With a suffix [t] the same root emerged as English short; it came to Latin as curtus, without the S but with the same meaning.
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David McWethy
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Re: Offshore

Postby David McWethy » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:43 am

Regarding today's GW, Dr. B. mentions as examples the "overseas outsourced" jobs that have moved to India, China, & Pakistan, adding that
"Outsource overseas" would be more precise, but then that's two words and we are always in a hurry.
"Outsource overseas" would suffer another fatal flaw: A destination of many of these relocated jobs and commerce is Mexico, which is not overseas--not separated from the United States by water--so its inclusion, therefore, would not be "littorally" accurate.
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Slava
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Re: Offshore

Postby Slava » Mon Nov 10, 2014 12:53 pm

David, Mexico jobs would simply be outsourced, not offshored, no?
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David McWethy
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Re: Offshore

Postby David McWethy » Mon Nov 10, 2014 2:24 pm

Slava: You were supposed to be impressed by the clever way I wrote that in the case of Mexico, "overseas outsourcing" wouldn't be "littorally" correct. (Because there wouldn't be any "littoral zone", defined as the part of a sea, lake or intertidal zone that is close to the shore between the two countries). :cry:
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things...."

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call_copse
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Re: Offshore

Postby call_copse » Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:18 am

If Slava was shore of himself I think he'd have got your drift, wood you not think? He was probably just coasting after a long day.
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LukeJavan8
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Re: Offshore

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:24 pm

dozing in the sun on the shore and beach. :P
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Philip Hudson
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Re: Offshore

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Nov 14, 2014 2:29 pm

Does the Rio Bravo [Rio Grande] count to make Mexico offshore from Texas?

Did you know the Rio Grande Valley isn't a valley? Look it up.
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Slava
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Re: Offshore

Postby Slava » Fri Nov 14, 2014 2:39 pm

I would say no. Rivers have banks, not shores.

Now, if you take something away from a certain Dinah, would that be off shores?
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Re: Offshore

Postby LukeJavan8 » Fri Nov 14, 2014 2:45 pm

Going back a ways for that one, slava. But a good one
nonetheless.
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