Calculators (and related mental activities) as hobby or as avocation?

[pier4r]

Since some days I thought: would I call my interest in the 50g (and therefore in math/logic/programming that I foster while using the 50g) my hobby?

I am not a native speaker in English but also in German and Italian "hobby" is "hobby" (there are native words but they are going to be less used AFAIK), so I think the meaning is the same as I think it is.

Well "hobby" sounds like a second class activity. I clarify here: I perceive a hobby not as something "nice to have", like "ok first I bring the bread at home, then if I have time I do this". Rather something on the line "Uh, I do not know what to do, this activity is enjoyable for me and I do it, but it is not really that important for me".

Instead for me, aside from getting an income, doing some activities (like using the 50g, reading history, understand how to plan complex activities better, etc.) is really important. Surely they come later than others (if my daughter doesn't eat, I don't care about the 50g), but after that they have a really high value.*

How is it for you?

* Indeed today I asked on internet how can I define this with a word and I got "avocation". Nice one, I checked the translations in Italian and they are not as good as avocation. Neither they are in German according to dict.cc (Nebenbeschäftigung is more like a second job or minor occupation).

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

(08-26-2017 06:59 PM)pier4r Wrote:  * Indeed today I asked on internet how can I define this with a word and I got "avocation". Nice one, I checked the translations in Italian and they are not as good as avocation. Neither they are in German according to dict.cc (Nebenbeschäftigung is more like a second job or minor occupation).

Sul mio Zanichelli, alla pagina 575:

Quote:passatèmpo n.m. (pl. passatèmpi) occupazione adatta a trascorrere il tempo libero in modo piacevole: il gioco degli scacchi è il mio passatempo preferito SIN. hobby.

Isn't that good enough? Just curious, as incidentally that's the same word we use for hobby in Portuguese (although people here in Brazil, young and old, prefer the latter, it seems).

Gerson.

[pier4r]

Yes passatempo is one of the suggested words by wordreference.com . Passatempo captures exactly the "hobby" part of "nice to have, but not important". It is like "leisure activity to let the time pass somehow".

What I meant instead is that I wish to have more time for the hp50g and related activities. Another word to describe this may be "passion" but it does not cut it properly.

[Jlouis]

Yes, hobby, why not?

Unless you are a professional., which is not my case.

And my doctor prescribed hobbies for mental health, that's why I play a lot with calculators and a game...that have kings, Queens, Knights....I forgot the name. Very good for the brain. My doctor said they could prevent a disease...called....alz...something...I really can't remember the name.

[Vtile]

Hobbyist
Dilettante
Amateur
Professional
Aficionado
Collector
Nut

Are these on correct order.

[SlideRule]

The word avocation seems appropriate.
"NOUN: something a person does in addition to a principal occupation, especially for pleasure"
source:Dictionary.com
BEST!
SlideRule

[David Hayden]

A hobby is something that you enjoy doing in your spare time.

A passion is something that you really enjoy doing. The connotation is that you'd do it full time if you were independently wealthy or could make a living from it.

A job or vocation is something you do that pays the bills.

"Day job" is slang for a job that you don't like.

"My day job is X but my passion is Y." This means the person would do Y full time but it doesn't pay well, so they do X which pays better, but doesn't interest them.

[pier4r]

Ok so passion would fit too.

Checking avocation after this answer on various dictionaries online seemed to fit really well.