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WotD: Jump ship
Today we’re going to take a brief look at the term jump ship, which began with a literal meaning and now has somewhat of a more symbolic one.
Going back a few hundred years ago, sailors signed contracts with ships or companies to work for a period of time or so many voyages.
Unfortunately, back then and even today, sailors were often treated poorly.
When someone quits their job without permission or giving notice, it’s known as jumping ship.
You don’t have to get wet to jump ship.
That’s why sometimes when the ship is near shore in a friendly country, a sailor may literally jump ship or jump over the side and swim for the shore to escape.
For those of us who are not sailors, the phrase jump ship is often used to describe the act of leaving a company for a better position due to less loyalty or just looking out for yourself.
Jumping ship has always been considered bad because it hurts the company.
However, these days, more and more workers realize the importance of looking out for number one.
The days when most companies would try to do right by their employees are long gone.
Employees can no longer rely on their employers for lifetime employment and good wages.
In 2021, many factors came together to make millions of American workers realize their work situations were crap.
They jumped ship in droves.
The phenomenon grew so large that it has since been named The Great Resignation. If you’re interested, I created a lesson on it.
Anyways, when someone suddenly quits their job without permission or giving notice, it’s known as jumping ship.
While office workers don’t have to swim to shore, it does become a sink-or-swim situation for them once they have deserted their company.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 67.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.