A phrase that viscerally annoys me is older than I thought. Harold Field Kellogg, Harvard ’06, writes: “We students worked hard and played hard in Paris, but had time to travel through most of the countries of Europe, sketching and painting.”
Google suggests that “Work hard, play hard,” is even earlier, and was said to be a favorite slogan of Theodore Roosevelt.
Why does this phrase annoy you?
I can’t really articulate why. Maybe someone else can weigh in.
I think it is intended to be a catchy version of: approach everything in your life with passion. The problem is that “everything in your life” can not be neatly partitioned by the two descriptors “work” and “play” — not-work does not necessarily imply play, and not-play does not necessarily imply work.
Y2K Alert: “Harvard ’06”, on first reading, could apply to someone who graduated well after you did.
I just assume everybody reads every post.
I’m not annoyed by that slogan but annoyed by people who chastise me, using it.
If Teddy used it, I’m good with it.
There is that song by Wiz Khalifa.