When they refer to income, English speakers say that they earn money (to receive as return for effort and especially for work done or services rendered, to come to be duly worthy of or entitled or suited to).
French speakers say gagner de l’argent instead, which translates loosely as winning money. I find that this betrays an interesting difference in thinking as well.
In my youth, when I had trouble making myself attractive to members of the opposite sex, a smart friend told me « There’s no way for you to get laid if you genuinely believe “Getting Lucky” is a good description of getting laid. Unless you get lucky. » I’m pretty sure he stole that quote from somewhere, but it’s still great food for thought.
What’s fun about money is that it doesn’t grow on trees. Unless you somehow get lucky, the only way to get any money is for other people to give it to you. You don’t win money, you just convince people they need to give you some. You don’t earn money, you make sure people agree that you have earned some. You trade something for money.
And trade is, at the core, an act of pure communication. Technical skills might affect the quality or quantity of what you trade, but negotiation is extremely important and is a completely distinct skill from whatever you need for doing your job.
Unless your job consists in communication and negotiation, at which point you will be, on average, paid better than other people. Where do you stand?
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Hi. I'm Victor Nicollet,
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