Negotiations are not fun

I just learned that by definition, you cannot negotiate in your spare time. Negotiate comes from Latin negotiari “to transact business” which can be further broken down as neg- “not” + otium “leisure.” This “otium” finds its way into Spanish as ocio, which is their word for leisure time. Years ago I was in some Spanish-speaking city (probably Buenos Aires) where the alternative weekly publication for the arts and entertainment was called “Ocio,” which sent me to the dictionary to learn the word.

What other English words have this “otium” in them? I can’t think of any. Leave your comments!

Today’s entry is inspired by and partially quoted from today’s “What’s the Good Word?” daily word email from alphadictionary.com, which I’m enjoying most every day.