Words for Nerds - Moil
October 5, 2007 by Brad Shorr
Filed under Word Quiz
Are you a moil? Do you moil? Does your mind race at a moil a minute? Hard to answer such questions if you don’t know what moil means. What do you think is the correct definition?
A. A unit of distance equal to the distance between Earth and the Moon.
B. To work hard, slave away.
C. Muddy soil.
D. A makeshift shelter or dwelling.
Tempting choices all, but there is only one correct definition of moil, and that is … to work hard or slave away. (You may have noticed that moil is derived from a word meaning wet or muddy, so if you answered C, please give yourself half a point.)
When I first stumbled across this word, I thought it was the person who performs the circumcision at a Jewish bris, as seen in the unforgettable Seinfeld episode, The Bris. But that “moil” is spelled m-o-h-e-l, mohel.
Questions
Perhaps mohels moil. There are certainly people in every other trade who do. How do you stay fresh? How do you keep your work from turning into moil?
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Zero points again
But happy to remember how hard I used to moil - and don’t any more
Joanna
Hang in there, Joanna. As a matter of fact, if you’d like to suggest a word of your own, I could use it!
Personally, I used to moil all the time as an accountant.
However, even though I worked long hours, often staying late at night, I never actually achieve a lot. I was working long hours (and working hard - not mucking around), but I found it difficult to work efficiently.
Accordingly, in my seven years career as an accountant, I achieved only mediocre results.
Looking back, I think it was because I often had to contrentrate for long periods on repetitive tasks whilst sitting in the same position. My roles were not stimulating and I had difficulty working effectively.
Since moving to Korea and commencing work as an English teacher two years ago, I have found that I have acheived much more successful results.
This is because my position is a much better match of my natural skills and personal attributes.
So, to avoid the situation where you achieve mediocre results despite excessive moiling, it’s critical to be in employment which you find, challenging, stimulating and rewarding.
But, if you love what you do, work hard and strive to achieve, I feel that work life can be a most rewarding experience.
Cheers
Andrew
Andrew, I think what you say is very true and very important. I made a major career change as well for the same reasons, with the same results.