I've noticed over the last few years that people who were formerly my colleagues have become my work colleagues. Does anyone know why this should be so?
(Perhaps I should also mention that the buildings we used to call "stations" have become "train stations". Perhaps these are specific examples of a more general phenomenon?)
This is called a back formation. That is, a class of noun which once meant something specific all by itself, now has rivals.
The classic example is guitar. At one time, all guitars were "acoustic" guitars, and so the "acoustic" modifier was not needed. Now that there are electric guitars, the term guitar may mean an electric guitar, so people who want to be specific about the non-electric version will specify an "acoustic" guitar.
Presumably you can have other types of colleagues than "work" colleagues, but the back formation here seems a bit redundant. There are other kinds of stations besides train stations, so the formation is more obviously beneficial there.
I use the term work colleague for those I see at my day job, and colleague for those I volunteer with. I think a few other people do this, too.
I am an athlete & would consider My Teammates “colleagues” the same as I would consider the Folks I work w/ as colleagues. Both groups I “work” w/ in a sense, It matters I suppose how one defines work, or what one’s perception of what work is, how play or hobbies differentiate. Mental /physical energy can easily be expended in both instances.
The phrase 'work colleague' is a complete redundancy in my opinion as the definition for 'colleague' in a variety of dictionaries boils down to 'someone you work with'. I have never seen a different definition.
I would find it far more appropriate to clarify associates (using the AMA example above) etc. rather than to add a word that really does not add any value to the sentence.
The phrase is a pet hate of mine though so I may be a little biased against it.
