English

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Etymology

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From Mandarin 過勞死过劳死 (guòláosǐ), from Japanese 過労死 (karōshi). Doublet of karoshi.

Noun

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guolaosi (uncountable)

  1. Death from overwork.
    • 2005, Melissa Rossi, What Every American Should Know About Who's Really Running the World, →ISBN:
      They say that Chinese workers in factories supplying Wal-Mart are dying from guolaosi—“overwork death”—from working upwards of fifteen hours a day, seven days a week, for months on end in a frenzy to quickly and cheaply fill demand ...
    • 2007, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Unmarketable:
      Asia estimated that by June 2006 the number of deaths attributed to guolaosi in China had reached six hundred thousand per year.
    • 2011, Eric Clark, The Real Toy Story: Inside the Ruthless Battle for Britain's Youngest Consumers, →ISBN:
      Her parents were told it was 'unknown death' and received a small sum in compensation. But the villagers said it was the new disease, guolaosi. Overwork death.
    • 2015, Steven McShane, Mara Olekalns, Alex Newman, Organisational Behaviour 5e; Emerging Knowledge, →ISBN:
      Although difficult to calculate, one prominent newspaper estimates that guolaosi claims the lives of 600 000 people in China each year.

Synonyms

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See also

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  • 九九六 (jiǔjiǔliù, “9-to-9 workday and six-day workweek”, literally “996”)