vocation vs avocation
Definitions
noun
- the particular occupation for which you are trained
- a body of people doing the same kind of work
Examples
Of course, Whitty himself ain’t exactly a peach; he loves him some torture, and buries knives in bellies with minimal provocation; when it comes to witch-hunting, he’s of the “burn her alive now, ask questions … well, don’t really bother asking questions, it’s just so damn fun to burn people, let’s do it some more!” school.
Although he had not howled once, his snarling and growling, combined with his thirst, had hoarsened his throat and dried the mucous membranes of his mouth so that he was incapable, except under the sheerest provocation, of further sound.
The judge was making the point that the Pledge, in its current incarnation, is only about 50 – 60 years old and that the language “under God” was inserted at a particular time in response to concerns of that time and that the Pledge is not some sacrosanct invocation from the founders.
Definitions
noun
- an auxiliary activity
Examples
So Frances Hodgson Rondel must, one way and another, have got quite an earful about Professor Shandy's strange avocation.
I've worked with a lot of good folks over my career, and I appreciate the opportunity afforded to me in this 'avocation' to have worked alongside each of them.
Something curious to the unaccustomed eye, these curling, clutching, digitated members raised above their usual range and common avocations, suddenly endowed with speech, and holding forth there in the silent upper air for the whole human economy.
