housework or chores? | WordReference Forums

Well, housework involves cleaning and running a house, while house chores may involve maintenance beyond the scope of a housewife ? Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install Forums EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. houseworkorchores? Threadstarter Geilis Startdate Jun15,2006 Geilis Member Parisoutskirts French,France hieveryone! cananybobyhelpmeandtellmeifthereisanyrealdifferencebetweenthewords"housework"and"housechores"? thanksalot   texasweed Banned French-born/USEnglish Well,houseworkinvolvescleaningandrunningahouse,whilehousechoresmayinvolvemaintenancebeyondthescopeofahousewife?   E emma42 SeniorMember NorthEastUSA BritishEnglish Ooh,texasweed!Controversial. InEnglandwesay"housework",whichincludescleaning,ironing,cooking.Theother"maintenance"stuffiscalled"DIY"(DoItYourself)usually.Womenarebannedfromdoingthelatterbecausetheymightbreaktheirfingernailsandthenspendthewholeofthenextweekcrying,thusunabletocooktheirhusbands'dinners.   texasweed Banned French-born/USEnglish Todohousechores,IusuallyconsultDIYbooks.Idon'thaveanailleft Myhusband'sbetteratcookingthanhandlingplumbing,electricity,repaintingorplastering.   E emma42 SeniorMember NorthEastUSA BritishEnglish Iamfairlyrubbish*atDIY. BEdoesn'tusetheword"chores"verymuch.ItsoundsveryAmericantome.Wemightuseitmoreasageneraltermforaratherdifficulttask. Wehavetomowthelawn.Oh,whatachoreitis. *Inthiscontext,"unskilled"/"badat".   M marget SeniorMember CityofBrotherlyLove USAEnglish texasweedsaid: Todohousechores,IusuallyconsultDIYbooks.Idon'thaveanailleft Myhusband'sbetteratcookingthanhandlingplumbing,electricity,repaintingorplastering. Clicktoexpand... Iagreewiththebasicdistinctions,butIthinkItendtousethetermhouseholdchorestorefertotheworkmanywomenwishthemanofthehousewoulddo.   se16teddy SeniorMember LondonbutfromYorkshire English-England Inadditiontoallthepointsabove,tome,'chores'emphasizesthatyouconsiderthejobsaburden.Incontrast,manypeopletakepleasureinhousework.   Geilis Member Parisoutskirts French,France IseethatIhavearousedadelicatematter:doourdearpartnersshareenoughchoresathome?looool thankyouallforyouranswersanyway! thatisveryhelpful,onalinguisticlevel,atleast!!   E englishrose18 NewMember u.kcurrently,perhapsnewzealandinfuture? english theyarequitesimilarbutithinkhousechoresinvolvemorework.   cuchuflete SeniorMember Maine,EEUU EEUU-inglés Inthissmallcornerofnowhere, Housework-alldomesticcleaning,laundry,cooking Chores-usuallyscheduledhouseorgardenorbarnmaintenance AChore-burdensometask,suchascleaningone'snails,haulingtrashtothedump Wehaveanotherspecialcategorythatmayencompassanyandalloftheabove:Honeydew Thisispronounced"Honeydo",andisreputed,accordingtoallunreliablesexistsources,tobeusedmostlybyfemales,wheninstructingpartnerstoaccomplishaparticularlydisagreeabletask,suchasfixingthebarndoor,orpickinguptheirsocksfromthebathroomfloor. "Honey,dobeasweatheartandgetyourdirtyundiesintothelaundrybasket.I'mtiredoftrippingonthem." Inafuture,moreenlightenedsociety,thisformofaddresswillnothavegenderconnotations.   E emma42 SeniorMember NorthEastUSA BritishEnglish Iintendtointroduce"Honeydew"intoBEattheearliestopportunity. Cuchuflete,"sweatheart"?Tsktsk. Asfaras"chores"isconcerned,IrememberhearingthiswordallthetimeinAmericanfilmsandTVprogrammes.Teenagersarealwaysbeingtoldthattheycannotgooutwiththeirfriendsuntiltheyhavefinishedtheir"chores".Iusedtothinkthatthissoundedveryburdensome.   cuchuflete SeniorMember Maine,EEUU EEUU-inglés Thanksforthecorrection,emma42.Mychoresmustinclude spellingpractice.GuessI'mnotverygoodatsweetstuff,whilesweatcomesnaturally. WhenIwasasmallboy,weeklychoresincludedbathroomcleaning,foldinglaundry,andpolishingmyfather'sshoes. IfIdidn'tgetthosechoresdoneonaSaturdaymorning,Iwasn'tallowedtogofishingorplaybaseball.Ispentfarmoretimeandefforthatingthethoughtofthosechoresthandoingthem.   mariposita SeniorMember madrid US,English whilehousechoresmayinvolvemaintenancebeyondthescopeofahousewife? Clicktoexpand... Doesanyoneusethetermhousewifeanymore??Ihaven'tseenonesincetheseventiesandIcertainlywouldn'tusetheterminthisdayandage.Thenagain,myhusbanddoesthelaundryanddishes,whileIbringhomethebacon... Similarly,inreferencetomyowndomesticsituation,noonereferstotheworkdonetomaintainthehouseholdaschores.Forme,choresareritualizedanddiscretetasksthatchildrendoeveryday:dryingthedishes,settingthetable,thatsortofthing.Tome,choreimpliessomereluctancetoperformthetaskathand,becauseithasbeenmandatedbyahigherauthority,schedule,orsystemoftasksandrewards.   cuchuflete SeniorMember Maine,EEUU EEUU-inglés maripositasaid: Doesanyoneusethetermhousewifeanymore?? Clicktoexpand... LauraBush?   M maxiogee Banned English texasweedsaid: Well,houseworkinvolvescleaningandrunningahouse,whilehousechoresmayinvolvemaintenancebeyondthescopeofahousewife? Clicktoexpand... Myhouseisn'tmarriedandsoitdoesn'thaveawife!Itis,however,shackedupwiththehousenextdoor!   E emma42 SeniorMember NorthEastUSA BritishEnglish "Housewife"isexecrable.Butsois"stay-at-home-mom". It'ssodifficulttofindtherightexpression.Ithinkit'sindicativeofthelowsocialstatusofwomenwhodon'tworkoutsidethehome.   nycphotography SeniorMember AmericanEnglish InAE,choreshaveacompulsoryovertonetothem...theyarethingsyouwouldn'tdoifyoudidn'thaveto. Whilemosthouseworkmaybeachoretomostpeople,somemaynotmindit. Andnotallchoresarehouseworknorwhatwouldtraditionallybeconsidereddomestic.Forexamplechangingtheoilinthefamilyjalopy,orpickingthebratsupfromsoccerpractice,ormilkingthefamilyheifer. Finally,andIthinkthiscouldbethemaindistinction:houseworkisthatwhichonenormallydoesinthecourseofliving...whilechoresarethoseexceptionalthingswhicharebeingrequiredofonebyanother.Nevermindthatoneshouldjustdoitwithoutasking,onehasn't,andnowoneisbeingassignedthechoreofdoingit.   nycphotography SeniorMember AmericanEnglish emma42said: "Housewife"isexecrable.Butsois"stay-at-home-mom". It'ssodifficulttofindtherightexpression.Ithinkit'sindicativeofthelowsocialstatusofwomenwhodon'tworkoutsidethehome. Clicktoexpand... LOW?It'sgettingBACKtothepointwheretheygenerallyhighersocialstatus.Ofcourse,theyhavemaidsandnannies,sotheydon'tworkINthehomeeither.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link Forums EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top