What's The Word: Freelancer Vs Sellsword | CNBC-TV18

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Hi, if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you know who this guy is. Yep, that’s Bronn of the Blackwater. And before he met Tyrion Lannister and became Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Reach, Master of Coin, and the founder of his house, he was a fighter and an assassin for hire. In his words, he was that I myself. So I sell my sword. I don’t loan it out to friends as a favorite. In the series Song of Fire and Ice, like many other fantasy series, a cell sort is a mercenary. He or she fights for money rather than for loyalty to a specific nation or cause or ideology. It’s a compound word, cell plus sword, so a person who has sold the services of his or her sword. It sounds archaic and is designed to sound like it comes from the English spoken in medieval times, but in reality, it’s a modern word coined by fantasy authors like George RR Martin. Another word coined for literature is something a lot more familiar today, freelance. This is again a compound word combining free with Lance. A Lance, of course, is a long pointed weapon many nights used in medieval times and require a lot of skill. To build this word has its origins in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. He coined the word to refer to any warrior who was free to sell their considerable combat skills to whomever paid them. Again, there were no ties to either a feudal Lord or region or ideology. But here’s the difference. Cells or generally has negative connotations. The term carries a sense of putting money above everything, including the ideas of honour. Sell swords are often depicted as being unruly and operating outside the law. A freelance, on the other hand, while still mercenary, was considered tied to the honour codes of knighthood. He was free to serve whom or whatever cause he wanted, but he was loyal and. Honourable while his contract lasted. It’s the free aspect of the word that has helped freelance stick around in the English language through the centuries. Today it is used to refer to any person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to anyone, company or employer for the long term. However, it has undergone a small change. Originally the person was called a freelance, with freelancers being the plural, but the suffix ER or ear has been added on and today we say freelancer and freelancers and the assignment. Was referred to as a freelance job or a gig. There’s one more modern description that’s closely related to these words. A hired gun, which means exactly what it sounds like, a person hired for his skills with the gun. Because swords and lances are not used in warfare anymore. But again, hired gun or mercenaries still carry a bit of a negative connotation. The word freelancer does not.