karoshi

English

Deaths due to long working hours per 100,000 people (15+), joint study conducted by World Health Organization and International Labour Organization in 2016.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 過労死 (karōshi), from 過労 (karō, “overwork”) + 死 (shi, “death”). Doublet of guolaosi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈɹəʊʃi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

karoshi (uncountable)

1. Death, such as from heart attack or stroke, brought on by overwork or job-related stress.
   • 1976, Bill Henderson, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, Pushcart Press, page 207:

     For a while he began to speak Japanese, rather slangy, never having seemed to learn it — karoshi for death from overwork, yakitaori-ya for eatery, and gaijin for clumsy foreigner.

   • 2006, Ronald J. Burke, Research Companion to Working Time and Work Addiction, page 158:

     Second, we discuss the problem of karoshi, which is unique to Japan. Karoshi has become an increasingly serious problem.

   • [2007 November, Gil Schwartz, “Escape from the job monster”, in Men's Health, volume 22, number 9, →ISSN, page 120:

     […] I am a workaholic. […] The Japanese have a word for the problem: karōshi. It means “death from overwork.”]

   • 2008, Tony Crabbe, Busy, Preface, at page xi:

     In Japan there is a word for the consequences of extreme busyness: karoshi, which means 'death from overwork'. Karoshi happens when chronic fatigue, stemming from long hours and persistent stress, leads to stroke and heart disease. For most of us, the results of a busyness-induced allostatic load are much less dramatic, but still pretty bad: being 'always on' has been linked to reductions in performance, reduced memory, and increased health risks of all kinds: cardiovascular disease, reduced immune system performance and an earlier death. One expert in the US approximated that 60-90 per cent of all visits to the doctor were stress related.

Synonyms

• guolaosi

Translations

death from overwork

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 過勞死 / 过劳死 (zh) (guòláosǐ)

• French: karoshi (fr) m
• Indonesian: karosi
• Japanese: 過労死 (ja) (かろうし, karōshi)
• Korean: 과로사(過勞死) (ko) (gwarosa)
• Russian: каро́си (ru) f (karósi)

See also

• 九九六 (jiǔjiǔliù) (Chinese, literally 996; 9-to-9 workday and six-day workweek)

Anagrams

• koshari

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 過労死 (karōshi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.ʁɔ.ʃi/

Noun

karoshi m (uncountable)

1. (business, medicine) karoshi

See also

• surmenage