VOA词汇掌故2023--'Housekeeping' and 'Clean House' Mean More Than Cleaning

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

Spring is a time of the year when many people take time to clean. They straighten up messy areas of their homes. They tidy up!

Spring cleaning is a popular activity for many people. It is a chance to get rid of unnecessary items and get their homes clean and organized. Spring cleaning usually involves big projects, such as taking down and washing curtains, shaking out rugs and cleaning carpets, perhaps clearing out and cleaning up cabinets and closets.

Spring cleaning is a thorough cleaning inside and out.

So, on today's program we are going to clean house, too!

Daily cleaning tasks like doing the laundry or dishes are not considered spring cleaning. That is often called housekeeping or cleaning house. We use both of these terms in idiomatic¹ ways.

First, let's talk about cleaning house. When an organization, business or other group clean house, it gets rid of people or policies that make trouble or that do not work.

Here's an example.

My friend has a company that is suffering from troublemaking² and non-productive employees. If the owner wants the company to succeed, she may need to clean house and fire anyone not contributing.

Cleaning house can also mean to wipe out corruption³ or inefficiency⁴. When we use it this way, we are often talking about a political party or a governmental office.

Here's an example for that situation:

The city official in charge of education reform made cleaning house on corruption and waste the first item on his to-do list.

Sometimes we put words in between "clean" and "house" to make the expression more specific, as in this example:

To help their company succeed, the business partners needed to clean their financial house. And that meant hiring a new financial manager – one that wouldn't steal from them.

If you research the expression online, you may find another meaning for "cleaning house" – to punish or to give a beating. For example, the bully⁵ threatened to clean house on anyone who disagreed with him. But this usage is not as common as getting rid of ineffectual, troublesome or wasteful⁶ elements in a group.

Now let's talk about housekeeping.

Housekeeping defines the act of managing a household. Cleaning, organizing, paying the bills, and keeping food stocked can all be called housekeeping. Sometimes we call this putting our house in order. When we put our house in order we make sure it is running smoothly⁷. It can also mean to organize your finances and other responsibilities, especially when preparing for a life-changing event.

Used as a noun, housekeeping is also the department at a hotel in charge of keeping your room clean and stocked with necessary items like towels and soap.

Housekeeping also describes any repeated tasks that keep a business or organization running smoothly. So, housekeeping issues for a business could be managing and scheduling resources. It could also be tasks like keeping your computer up and running or updating staff on events or policy changes.

So, think of it this way. Housekeeping issues are the day-to-day, ongoing⁸ tasks and responsibilities that keep a business, home, or organization running smoothly. And cleaning house is to get rid of anything that is not working or is creating a mess – either literally⁹ or figuratively.

As for usage, both of these expressions can be used in formal and informal situations.

That's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.

Words in This Story

tidy up – phrasal verb to put in order : to clean up a mess

idiomatic – adj. of or relating to an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar¹⁰ to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived¹¹ from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for "undecided") or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way)

corruption – n. dishonest or evil behavior : the causing of someone else to do wrong (as by bribery)

inefficiency – n. something that is wasteful of time or energy

ineffectual – adj. not producing the proper or intended effect

manage – v. to look after and make decisions about

literally – adv. in a way that uses the ordinary or primary meaning of a term or expression

figuratively – adv. with a meaning that is metaphorical¹² rather than literal

informal – adj. suited for ordinary or everyday use

formal – adj. relating to, suitable for, or being an event requiring elegant dress and manners

1 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

2 troublemaking   

n.捣乱的行为

参考例句：

• But no, says Acheson, troublemaking will continue, and definitely so. 但是不，艾奇逊说，还是要捣乱的，并且确定地要捣乱。 来自互联网

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 inefficiency   

n.无效率，无能；无效率事例

参考例句：

• Conflict between management and workers makes for inefficiency in the workplace. 资方与工人之间的冲突使得工厂生产效率很低。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This type of inefficiency arises because workers and management are ill-equipped. 出现此种低效率是因为工人与管理层都能力不足。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

6 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

7 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

11 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。