Act Your Wage
akt yor wayjphrase
What it means
An instruction to withhold effort in proportion to pay, delivered as a joke by both sides because neither is permitted to be direct.
What it actually means
You are not paying for enthusiasm.
How it is used in a sentence
"He's very much act your wage since the pay review."
Filed under
Work & Ambition — Everything your employer calls a benefit and your therapist calls a symptom.
Diagnosis — The phrase already names a real problem. We define it properly.
Related entries
Quiet Quitting
Work & AmbitionKWY-it KWIT-ingnounDiagnosis
The radical act of performing the exact job described in the employment contract.
Real meaningWorking to rule, but it sounds worse now.
Bare Minimum Monday
Work & Ambitionbair MIN-ih-mum MUN-daynounDiagnosis
The one day the entire workforce silently agrees to do as little as possible and to describe it as boundary-setting.
Real meaningMonday is a write-off and we have agreed not to say so.