unkforce

English translation: unqualified workforce

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	unkforce/ unk(-)force
Selected answer:	unqualified workforce
Entered by:	Сергей Лузан

12:00 Dec 16, 2005

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Economics / Union

English term or phrase: unkforce

Many businesses had to cut back their unkforce. (more frequently spelled unk-force). I know the meaning of unk-unks, but what's the meaning here in the context?
MTIA

Сергей Лузан KudoZ activity Questions: 284 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 14203 Russian Federation
Local time: 23:04

unqualified workforce

Explanation:
copying from my answer in En-Rus pair at the request of the asker
i believe this is an ungrammatic spelling

Selected response from:

danya
Local time: 23:04

Grading comment

Thanks a lot for creative guessing & thinking, danya! Special thanks to Terence for clarifying the context for other askers, to Kenneth for his substantiated suggestion & commment, to Jo for his research & suggestion & to Nikos for his extremely helpful agree & comment! :)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +6

workforce

Terence Ajbro

3 +1

unqualified workforce

danya

Discussion entries: 15

Nikos Mastrakoulis

Greece

In my view, "unk" stands for "unqualified", shortened in a phonetic manner, which is typical for slang. This view is reinforced by the Squadbay reference to Marine Corps lingo.

18:45 Dec 17, 2005

Сергей Лузан

Russian Federation

ASKER

To: Alexander

20:00 Dec 16, 2005

The correct full spelling is probably "unqualified workforce" :)

Сергей Лузан

Russian Federation

ASKER

To: all

19:57 Dec 16, 2005

Well I still have no better explanation than danya's here. 'UNqualified worK-FORCE' is quite an established term in the field. There are 3 versions: 1) unk as a typo for 'work' (I exclude it) 2) 'unk-unks' (AE slang) meaning unexperted troubles and used here as just 'unk' (have strong doubts about it now) 3) 'unk' as shortened 'unqualified'/ '[UNqualified worK]-FORCE' (thanx, Jo) - the best so far & fits the context.
To: Kenneth here is the source. It was in the Russian textbook for economists - a set of isolated sentences on the topic (taken from random sources as far as I can suppose from experience). The term could have been used in some newspaper article. Source country - unk :) (unknown, of course).
��-��-�� : �� ! � ...
... companies` purpose. 10)The company may export its surpluses. 11)Many
businesses had to cut back their unkforce. 12) The society ...
zlo.rt.mipt.ru/?read=1712013

For: 'unk' as shortened 'unqualified'
The Squadbay: Content / Marine Corps Lingo
Unk---unqualified on the rifle range. Unsat---unsatisfactory. War belt---cartridge belt used to carry equipment. The word---confirmed info. Comments ... ...
www.thesquadbay.com/content.php?content.37
JustOneMinute: NewsMax - Right, Wrong, And Missing The Point
The date is also obvious: Bush's physical is good until the last day of his birth month (July), so on 1 August he goes "unk" (unqualified) and should be ...
justoneminute.typepad.com/ main/2004/09/newsmax_right_w.html etc

Ken Cox

Jo may be onto something. If he's right, the term should never be used in anything more formal than an e-mail.

14:26 Dec 16, 2005

Jo Macdonald

Spain

Maybe it�s Yuppie code for J-Force (worthless UNqualified worK-FORCE they�re going to Junk) ergo J-Force or J-unkforce. Loadsa hits on Goggle. They�re pretending it�s something else of course. ;-)

14:13 Dec 16, 2005

Ken Cox

Suggestion & commment: 1) Provide the original source context, including the source country, so potential answerers can better judge whether it is (more or less) native English, a typo, or whatever. 2) 'unk-jay' isn't slang, it's Pig Latin for 'junk'.

14:06 Dec 16, 2005

Terence Ajbro

Sweden

Ask yourself how many companies actually have unqualified workforce. You don't cut back unqualified workforce, you just don't hire them to begin with! So workforce can only be right here.

13:29 Dec 16, 2005

Сергей Лузан

Russian Federation

ASKER

To: all

13:26 Dec 16, 2005

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q...

Terence Ajbro

Sweden

So where's the word "unkforce" here?

13:14 Dec 16, 2005

Сергей Лузан

Russian Federation

ASKER

To: ALL

13:13 Dec 16, 2005

I've never encountered it before now either. But what do you say about the following reference?
News Letter - Putting New Life Into A City
... "The bad news is, however, that there is not enough innovation. "It has the highest proportion of unqualified workforce in the UK and it is very cut off, in ...
www.newsletter.co.uk/story/10906/1/

Terence Ajbro

Sweden

As far as I know there is no such word as "unkforce". At least not in dictionaries or google-searching.

13:08 Dec 16, 2005

Сергей Лузан

Russian Federation

ASKER

To: ALL

13:05 Dec 16, 2005

There came a suggestion "unqualified workforce" in RUS-ENG pair. "unk" is the thing, that really concerns me, not 'work(-)force'

Сергей Лузан

Russian Federation

ASKER

To: ALL

12:49 Dec 16, 2005

My best guess was unk(work(-)force) surely, in the given context it could mean nothing but 'work(-)force' but the latter with 'unk' used in attributive meaning. The talk is probably about redundant 'workforce' for some kind of contigencies & emergencies. Hard times come - and they are fired. I'll wait for opninions by US-economics/ labor-relations experts, perhaps they would provide us with a clue

Terence Ajbro

Sweden

Given the context here, it cannot be anything else.

12:30 Dec 16, 2005

Сергей Лузан

Russian Federation

ASKER

Terence Ajbro, lamiro

12:28 Dec 16, 2005

Dear Terence, the term 'unk-unks' does exist, there's also a US slangy term ' unk-jay'. How can you confirm your statement? :)

Answers

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

workforce

Explanation:
type for workforce, sometimes written as work-force

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 mins (2005-12-16 12:02:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

typo!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 mins (2005-12-16 12:06:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

typo!

Terence Ajbro
Sweden
Local time: 22:04
Native speaker of:

English

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

unqualified workforce

Explanation:
copying from my answer in En-Rus pair at the request of the asker
i believe this is an ungrammatic spelling

danya
Local time: 23:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

unkforce

English translation: unqualified workforce

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

unkforce

English translation: unqualified workforce

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language