I saw a delivery truck from an office furniture suppliers parked near my work today. On the side were the words "Seating and Desking".

DESKING?!

I'd never thought about it before now, but don't we sometimes talk about gentlemen's suiting?

Richard English

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but don't we sometimes talk about gentlemen's suiting?

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Not in the U.S.!

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Originally posted by Richard English:
I'd never thought about it before now, but don't we sometimes talk about gentlemen's suiting?

Richard English

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You might, but I've never heard it.

Glaubt es mir - das Geheimnis, um die größte Fruchtbarkeit und den größten Genuß vom Dasein einzuernten, heisst: gefährlich leben.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

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I think "suiting up" is more common than "suiting" over here, as in "the players were suiting up for the big game". The AHD:
AHD does record that sense for suit, though:

v. suit.ed, suit.ing, suits
v. tr.

5. To provide with clothing; dress: The NCOs suited the recruits in green uniforms.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (same website: dictionary.com) says it is obsolete:

suiting

3. To dress; to clothe. [Obs.]

M-W dates suit to the 14h century and defines it, in part, as a transitive verb meaning, "2 : to outfit with clothes : DRESS", and as an intransitive verb meaning "3 : to put on specially required clothing (as a uniform or protective garb) -- usually used with up."

M-W dates suiting to 1883 and difines it as a noun:

1 : fabric for suits
2 : a suit of clothes.

As for "desking", I think it is just an affectation for "desks", much like signage for signs.

I found one source for "desking" as a verb:

desking

Desk \Desk\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Desked; p. pr. & vb. n. Desking.] To shut up, as in a desk; to treasure.


Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Tinman

[This message was edited by tinman on Mon Oct 13th, 2003 at 20:32.]

I can't think of a simple synonym for desking. Why is it any different to shelving?

I thought that the phrase hot-desking was quite common.

What does "hot-desking" mean? I haven't ever heard the word "desking" either.

Yes, Tinman, "suiting up" is quite common when talking about sports. I had forgotten that.

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Originally posted by Graham Nice:
I thought that the phrase hot-desking was quite common.

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I wasn't familiar with this term, so I looked it up. Encarta defines it as a business term meaning "sharing a desk at work: the practice of using whatever desk an employer has available rather than an assigned desk for each employee".

Tinman

I hadn't heard the term "hot-desking" before but it makes perfect sense, particularly if you've ever been stationed on a submarine. (heh, heh!)

OK gang, it's quiz time again. What's the connection?

A hint - I haven't researched it but I'd be willing to bet that "hot-desking" was a direct off-shoot of another word that those in "the silent service," (as it was often called) would know well.

Answer next week.

"Seating and Desking".
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So, they're using it as a noun, as one would with "clothing?" Of course, it it were written by a US government official, they'd say "gerundising!"

Okay, CJ, are you linking "hot desking" to "hot bunking"?

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
Okay, CJ, are you linking "hot desking" to "hot bunking"?

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Yep, and I'm mildly surprised that it was one of our female members to get this one.

"Hot bunking" is the practice of sharing a bed in shifts. Person "A" sleeps 8 hours while "B' and "C" work, "B" then takes his* turn while "A" and "C" work and so on.


*I say "his" and not the more PC "his or her" (which I generally would) since, in my experience, "hot bunking" is pretty much a male practice. This is because the same bedding (sheets, etc) is used throughout and men, dogs that we are, tend not to be overly-sensitive to this sort of thing.

Speaking for myself, I have slept on the floor to avoid "hot-bunking" but, then again, I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to germ avoidance.