Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira Apr 11, 2011:

I contacted linguist David Crystal and he was very kind to reply:
'Slave-like' is quite an old lucution in English - it was first used by Shakespeare in Timon of Athens. It is analogous to other constructions, such as 'slave-grown' and 'slave-cultured'. An attributive use of 'slavery' is known only from the 19th century, and the OED doesn't yet have a record of 'slavery-like'.

Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira Apr 10, 2011:

Why didn't you also talk about "Thus, Ellen's evaluation of her 12 years of slave-like work, (there shouldn't be a comma here, but still) includes a reflection of", "Those who chose to return after three years of slave-like work would often find themselves in exactly the situation that they had been in when they left!", "heard how native illiterate women were paid meagre wages for slave-like work. ", and so and so forth? Besides, it doesn't matter if slave(ry)-like is used before a noun or not, as it means something that is like (a) slave(ry) anyway. In other words, the examples show that the words slave, like and work can form a collocation. If you or I or anybody else likes it or would use it or not, that's another thing, my point is just that native speakers have used it, and in books!, that is, edited prose, in sociological contexts.

T o b i a s Apr 10, 2011:

slavery-like work / slave-like work As noted earlier, uncritical googling is worth exactly how much you pay for it. The (apt) links to google books, supplied by Luciano, demonstrate this perfectly. Examples such as
slavery-like work conditions
slavery like work (sic) (UN publication)
Slavery-like work systems
slave-like work settings
slave-like work discipline
slave-like work environments,
slave-like work conditions
non-slave-like work paces
slave-like work relationship
slave-like work habits
slave-like work situations
slave-like work regimen
which make up the overwhelming bulk of the results, either use ‘slave-like work’ as an adjective to modify the following noun, or ‘slavery-like’ as an adjective to modify the following noun phrase (e.g., ‘work conditions’, ‘work system’). Asker was presumably looking for an adequate translation for ‘‘trabalho analogo a escravo.” which is clearly a stand-alone noun-phrase. Asker seems happy though. That’s all that matters.
(Dang, I really needed those points.)

Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira Apr 10, 2011:

Notem que tanto slavery-like work (http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&q="slavery-like w... quanto slave-like work (http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&q="slavery-like w... com predomíno do segundo, aparecem no Google Books na pena de escritores de nome anglo-saxão. O curioso é que neste corpus de inglês americano (http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/) não consta nenhum dos sintagmas.

airmailrpl Apr 9, 2011:

Slave-Like work >I wonder if I should close this question without grading as nobody >gave me slave-like work!
>Please help what should I do!

You should choose any answer that you consider convenient and then change the glossary entry to what you think is the best answer for your context .

That way future users will have the benefit of discovering this whole discussion and clash of opinions..

T o b i a s Apr 9, 2011:

You're welcome! .

Anuja Trehan (asker) Apr 9, 2011:

Thanks Tobias but I am afraid to state that I didn't choose your answer as the most appropriate in fact its far from being correct..
Thanks a ton for all your help though!

T o b i a s Apr 9, 2011:

What should you do? Give the points to me of course - must get points... Must get ... points......Must........................get..............................points...................................mu........................ge..............................po.............................

Anuja Trehan (asker) Apr 9, 2011:

Sorry to say but I feel and I think I am also a native of English language, for me Slave-Like work sounds much better and I believe it is correct.
I wonder if I should close this question without grading as nobody gave me slave-like work!
Please help what should I do!

airmailrpl Apr 8, 2011:

"Slave-like work" >Your literal translation "Slave-like work" is definitely not correct >English.

I do not know where you came up with this phrase - no one made this suggestion.

But "Slave-like work" gets 49,400 results on Google.

My suggestion - backed up by 122,000 results/references on Google was/is "Slave-Like Labor".

>Portuguese is your language English is mine.

If you are referring to me - then you missed the ball on that one - born and raised and schooled in the USA. Both Portuguese and English are my languages.

Before you start to condemn the term "Slave-like labor" as "definitely not correct English", maybe you should examine a few of the references on Google and see who is using the term - such as CBS News, Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune, PBS, Congressional Record, Senate Agriculture Committee, NY Times, NPR and many, many more news organizations in the USA and around the world. Do you really suppose that all of these writers (people who make their living writing articles in English) are all wrong and only you are right ??

Evans (X) Apr 8, 2011:

Shakespeare of course was dealing with a far more fluid language than we have today. "slave-like working conditions" etc, works for me but "slave-like work" sounds wrong. If it sounds okay to others it may just be my corner of the English-speaking world where it sounds odd.

Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira Apr 8, 2011:

Não há inconveniente nenhum em trabalho análogo a escravo em português, porque análogo a pode ser seguido de adjetivo ou substantivo, e escravo aqui não é substantivo, é adjetivo (trabalho que é análogo a trabalho escravo). Em inglês, como já referi, parece-me muito melhor slavery, porque os compostos com like sempre têm substantivo, não adjetivo antes http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-like

T o b i a s Apr 8, 2011:

Why this spade? this place? This slave-like habit? (The Tragedy of Timon of Athens (1607))

Top-10 slave-like collocations:

slave-like condition
slave-like practices
slave-like death
slave-like servants
slave-like nature
slave-like behavior
slave-like silence
slave-like tasks
slave-like habit
slave-like labor

Evans (X) Apr 8, 2011:

I do agree with Mark. You can work like a slave, literally and metaphorically, but "slave-like work" is not good English.

Mark Robertson Apr 8, 2011:

You have provided us with an object lesson in the dangers of literal translation. "Trabalho análogo a escravo" may well be correct Portuguese, although I doubt it. Your literal translation "Slave-like work" is definitely not correct English. Portuguese is your language English is mine. Languages differ and have nuances that non-native speakers will hardly ever master. Translators are fundamentally meant to translate/communicate meaning not just strings of words.

airmailrpl Apr 8, 2011:

by your logic by your logic (?).."trabalho analogo a escravo" would mean people who have a poor command of the Portuguese language .. it should be written "trabalho analogo a escravidão" as "trabalho analogo a escravo" is literally saying "work analogous to a slave"

Mark Robertson Apr 8, 2011:

SLAVE-LIKE LABOR It just goes to show what an unreliable source uncritical googling is. Slave-like labor means labor that is like a slave and that is pure nonsense. All the results prove is that there are many more people out there who have a poor command of the English language than there are people whose command of the language is at least satisfactory and even fewer whose texts are worthy of emulation.

Anuja Trehan (asker) Apr 8, 2011:

Thanks everyone but I instead prefer slave-like work

airmailrpl Apr 8, 2011:

"Slave-Like Labor" "slavery-like work"
About 9,000 results (0.38 seconds)

"Slave-Like Labor"
About 50,000 results (0.37 seconds)

T o b i a s Apr 8, 2011:

digression even commits to fulfil Brazilian occupational legislation > shall comply with all applicable labor laws