voluntell

English

WOTD – 12 May 2022

Etymology

Blend of volunteer +‎ tell.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌvɒl(ə)nˈtɛl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌvɑlənˈtɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Hyphenation: vo‧lun‧tell

Verb

voluntell (third-person singular simple present voluntells, present participle voluntelling, simple past and past participle voluntold)

1. (transitive, originally US military slang, informal, often humorous) To tell or force (someone) to volunteer to do something. [from c. 1992]
   • 2003 April 24, [anonymous United States Marine Corps corporal], “Combat Iraq”, in Frank Schaeffer, editor, Voices from the Front: Letters Home from America’s Military Family, New York, N.Y.: Carroll & Graf Publishers, published 2005, →ISBN, pages 132–133:

     I just found out that I was "voluntold" [Marine-speak for a combination of volunteered and told—F[rank] S[chaeffer]] to stay back for a working party.

   • 2007, W. Lewis Johnson, “Serious Use of a Serious Game for Language Learning”, in Rosemary Luckin, Kenneth R. Koedinger, Jim Greer, editors, Artificial Intelligence in Education: Building Technology Rich Learning Contexts that Work, Amsterdam: IOS Press, →ISBN, page 71:

     All had been directed by their command to participate in the study (in Marine jargon, they were "voluntold" to participate).

   • 2007, Jeff Pallister, “Work through Teams”, in Chain Reaction: A Business Novel: The Executive’s Action Plan for Turning Creativity and Teamwork into Sustainable Profits, Calgary, Alta.: Pallister Resource Management, →ISBN, part II (Transformation), page 69:

     “I see I’ve been voluntold to be a team leader,” said Rudi Samson, a project manager. “What do I need to do as team leader?”

   • 2009 March, Clint Van Winkle, chapter 11, in Soft Spots: A Marine’s Memoir of Combat and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 141:

     Hanging out with a gunnery sergeant, especially Gunny Yates, was dangerous for a sergeant. The threat of being volunteered (voluntold) for working parties always loomed.

   • 2010, Jonathan Acuff, “Missional Postmodern Relevance”, in Stuff Christians Like, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, →ISBN, page 180:

     Studies I completely made up show that 84 percent of voluntold incidents originate with your parents or your spouse. You're enjoying a perfectly normal day when your mom will say, "Hey, I volunteered you to teach the next door neighbors' grandparents from China how to drive."

   • 2021, Gorick Ng, “Be Proactive”, in The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right, Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press, →ISBN:

     Another caution: while it may be up to you to volunteer for tasks, it often isn't up to you if a higher-up "voluntells" you for a task by assigning it, but making it look like it is optional for you to accept it.

   • 2021, David Spinks, “Activating Community Engagement”, in The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community Your Competitive Advantage, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 158:

     No matter how much you work to make people feel seen, use personal invitations, and politely voluntell people to participate, there will still be times when you just don't get a response to something you organize for the community.

   • 2021, Tally Vivarais, chapter 12, in The Silver Men, Victoria, B.C.: FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 64:

     "Yeah, not happening, old man. I'm not volunteering for this. Make Montey do it! At least he can tolerate her!" Donney smiles viciously at me. "Then consider this me voluntelling you to do it. Besides, Montey is needed in making a new garden so we can at least have food for when winter hits."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:voluntell.

Translations

to tell or force (someone) to volunteer to do something

• Hebrew: התנודב (hitnudáv)
• Polish: zgłosić na ochotnika pf (kogoś), zgłaszać na ochotnika impf (kogoś)