[Idiom] Work Ethic (2)

[EverLivingPoet]

FA Cup: McCarthy and Warnock put emphasis on work ethic | Football | The Observer

'We've done all right this season through bloody hard work, graft. We've got some good footballers who have done us proud, but they've worked hard, and if we ever drop those levels of work and work ethic and standards, we'll struggle. Sheffield United are a good side and if we don't work as hard as we've done and play as well as we've done, we'll get beat.'

So "work ethic" could be uncountable?

 

[Allen165]

FA Cup: McCarthy and Warnock put emphasis on work ethic | Football | The Observer

'We've done all right this season through bloody hard work, graft. We've got some good footballers who have done us proud, but they've worked hard, and if we ever drop those levels of work and work ethic and standards, we'll struggle. Sheffield United are a good side and if we don't work as hard as we've done and play as well as we've done, we'll get beat.'

So "work ethic" could be uncountable?

NOT A TEACHER.

I've never heard anybody say "work ethics"; to my knowledge, it's always "work ethic."

 

[EverLivingPoet]

So "work ethic" could be used in an "uncountable form"?

 

[Allen165]

So "work ethic" could be used in an "uncountable form"?

NOT A TEACHER.

I'm no good with grammatical terms, so I'm reluctant to answer that question. As I said, you always say "work ethic" and never "work ethics."

 

[EverLivingPoet]

So, does "a focus on work ethic" sound okay to you?

 

[birdeen's call]

So, does "a focus on work ethic" sound okay to you?

It sounds fine to me and so does the sentence in the first post of this thread. It's not one particular work ethic that the sentence mentions. It's work ethic.

 

[birdeen's call]

i look dictionary three time. "work ethic" are countable. "a focus on one work ethic" are good.

Which dictionary do you use, WillKim?

 

[Tdol]

To me work ethic is being industrious, applying yourself to work. Work ethics would be the moral principles.

 

[Raymott]

To me work ethic is being industrious, applying yourself to work. Work ethics would be the moral principles.

I've never thought about it. But if don't like Bill's work ethic, and you don't like Tom's work ethic (for a different reason - ie. their work ethic is/are different), how do you say "I don't like their work ethic"?
If you say "I don't like their work ethic", you're implying that they have the same work ethic, which they don't.

 

[Tdol]

Either?

 

[Raymott]

Either?

I'd say, "They don't have the right work ethic."
Instead of saying that their plural "work ethics" are unsatisfactory, it's possible to say that there is one suitable work ethic, which they lack.

OK, that's cheating. I'd also say "work ethics", if there was no ambiguity. The context would determine the meaning.

 

[EverLivingPoet]

So phrases like "a emphasis on work ethic" and "a lack of work ethic" are passable?

 

[bhaisahab]

So phrases like "a emphasis on work ethic" and "a lack of work ethic" are passable?

"An emphasis..."

 

[EverLivingPoet]

So phrases like "an emphasis on work ethic" and "a lack of work ethic" are passably acceptable?

By the way, why do you get that quote box to work?

 

[Allen165]

So phrases like "an emphasis on work ethic" and "a lack of work ethic" are passably acceptable?

By the way, why do you get that quote box to work?

Click on "Quote."