Re: Defining "pro"

[Travis Hartnett <travishartnett@gmail.com>]

No, a "professor" is one who professes....
A "professional" [occupation] is someone who engages in that
occupation to earn a living.

The term "pro" in regards to gear has been so widely used it's lost
most of its meaning.  If we regard gear as tools, then professional
tools would be those that are constructed to  standards and precisions
deemed necessary by those who depend on them for a living, i.e.
professionals.

I'm reminded of the distinction between an "Oscar-caliber performance"
and an "Oscar-winning performance".  However, in the end, there's only
one definition for an "Oscar winner".

TravisH

On 10/16/05, Kelly Coyle <kellycoyle@charter.net> wrote:
> I don't know about defining "professional" -- classically, a
> "professional" is, after all, one who professes -- and I think this
> debate might be pointless. Be that as it may (I could be wrong, after
> all), I'd like to say two things about the use of the word. In one
> case, it's a marketing tool to mark products for a certain audience,
> "pros," and to market products for another audience, pro-wannabes.
> Almost everything in a Musician's Friend catalog is "pro," the only
> other possible label is "entry-level," and even those usually are
> said to have "pro features at a remarkably reasonable price." So, for
> the most part, in the marketing of equipment, "pro" is for suckers.
>
> In the other case, "professional" is used to make a distinction
> between folks. It is, apparently, different than "good" or "serious,"
> and it comes out when "good" or "serious" doesn't exclude the right
> people. But it isn't the simple "makes a living at" that Travis
> offered; I think you have to look at when and how it comes up. It
> seems to me it usually distinguishes "people whose opinion is valued"
> from "people whose opinions aren't" in everyday use. It is used as a
> way to discredit other points of view: "As a professional, I..." And
> you get membership in the class by commercial success (i.e., industry
> approval), so that people in the industry can use the category
> "professional" to limit other than their "official" points of view. I
> may be wrong about all that! But, what I'm really saying is what the
> word officially means is quite beside the point. It is insulting
> because of how it is used, and what it does. "Expert" would be a much
> less loaded word, for example.
>
> So says the "professional" academic.
>
> "Amateur," I will remind you, means "for the love of." Or it used to.
> Now it means, "doesn't get paid enough to qualify as a 'real'
> participant."
>
>