OFF ICE

Do you ever look at words and wonder about their root or true meanings? I was sitting out front of a FedEx Office on Lower Queen Anne the other day. The word "office" signaling to me like a beacon. I still have and occasionally work in an office environment. Even so, the word kind of repels me.

First, divide the word in half. Off. Ice. Hmmm ... Here's the Merriam Webster's definitions:
: a building or room in which people work at desks doing business or professional activities
: a room with a desk where a particular person works

: a building or room where a doctor, lawyer, etc., works and meets with patients or clients

:  a special duty, charge, or position conferred by an exercise of governmental authority and for a public purpose
:  a position of authority to exercise a public function and to receive whatever emoluments may belong to it

Here's the word's origin:

The Latin root opus sure sounds very similar to middle and modern English word office. Let's go back to dividing the word in two. Off ice. Off as in to turn off, and ice is either frozen water or slang for methamphetamine.

For those who work in an office, when you are at work, do you feel and act fully self expressed? When we're at work, we're expected to be productive. So in a very real and of course metaphoric sense we're actually putting ourselves "on ice." Though when doing so it's probably a good idea to stay off the drug "ice."

Lastly I was listening to BBC World the other day on SiriusXM. They had a fascinating segment on the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots. We can now only theorize about such applications and how they will affect future (or even present) humanity. It could go one of two ways. Perhaps robots will take on the mundane tasks none of us really enjoy doing, allowing us to fulfill our wildest dreams. Perhaps robots will take away our livelihood, leaving many of us little if any purpose. Utopia or dystopia. Either way will it be up to humans do choose our fate? Whether we can or we can't we are ultimately going to be correct.