I’m pretty certain I’ve coined a new word, “sinecurety.” I googled it and got nary a hit!
Or maybe “sinecurity.” I haven’t decided on a spelling yet. It’s kinda cool I get to decide and not the OED.
I think I’ll go with sinecurity. (Leaving the quotes off actually makes it more real.)
Actually, the OED need not worry too much (nor Websters) since the word has a very narrow application: it works only when paired with “job.” Job sinecurity.
More to come…
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Oct 13, 2010 @ 04:20:34
‘Sinecurity’ has been around for a while. I just had a similar idea – a new coinage – and found your page and several others dating back through age of the internet. If you go with ‘job sinecurity’, however, I think it’s all yours – you could actually get a nice contrarian pop management book out of that.
If you used it to mean not caring about your job, it would be particularly arch. If you used it to mean an idea like the Googleplex – where a bunch of autistics are paid with shares, on-demand ‘chef made’ meals and unlimited foosball in order to encourage them to stay on-site beyond sane hours – it would be cool, too.
For me, the way I want to use it (sinecurity) is to explain the pre-modern concept of learnedness, in which application (eg profession) was declasse, and the conceit of patronage was that an individual could be supported ‘sine cure’ (rather than in service to patrons). It’s got a nice retired vicar vibe about it.