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“I was going to vacuum but I was too lazy.”
Translation: I did something else instead of vacuuming.
“He’s too lazy to look for a better job.”
Translation: He’s scared of the unknown, or he’s too busy.
“… watch the hawks makin’ lazy circles in the sky” (from “Oklahoma”)
Translation: Watch the hawks hunting for their next meal.
“Lazy” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “disinclined to activity or exertion: not energetic or vigorous”, but has a half-dozen additional definitions.
Often what we like to label as lazy is just a failed attempt at efficiency. For example, tonight I made pasta. I didn’t use a colander to drain the noodles. I did a quick bit of math in my head and realized that the time I would lose from searching for the colander, plus the time it would take cleaning it, wasn’t worth it. (Taking up a colander sized space in the dishwasher was not an option). I wanted to get my dinner made, eat it, and then go back to my work project. I tried to be efficient, but failed, as is evidenced by the stray noodles still sitting in the sink. If someone were to ask me why I didn’t use a colander, my response would have been “I was lazy.” But is that really “laziness”?
What about sitting on the couch and watching TV, or scrolling social media for hours? Isn’t that laziness? It’s certainly not efficient and fits definition number one. But what if the reason is due to sickness or injury? It still fits the definition, but we wouldn’t call the unwell person “lazy”. Maybe they are doing fine, but are simply tired, either from working hard the day before, or from stress. Perhaps “laziness” does exist, but the negative connotation we assign to it comes from lack of information.
In any case, try substituting words like “efficient”, “restorative”, and “recuperating” instead of “lazy” and see what happens.
Thanks for reading!
Rebecca H. Lee
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