ersatz ˈer-ˌsäts , -ˌzäts; noun and adjective
noun: an artificial or inferior substitute or imitation
adjective: artificial and inferior
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The word ersatz has appeared in 36 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on June 10 in “Farewell to Gummy Bear Jars: Tech Offices Get a Virus Safety Makeover” by Natasha Singer:
Employees will still want to go into the office, Ms. Pinkham said, only less frequently and for more specific reasons. To adapt, the company plans to schedule certain teams for the same shifts so they can see their colleagues and whiteboard ideas together, she said, albeit while wearing masks in more sparsely populated conference rooms.
“It may become more of an intentional behavior,” Ms. Pinkham said of going to the office, “versus an ‘I just wake up and go to the office because that’s what I do’ behavior.”
It is an idea that will make the tech office, once the ersatz home away from home, more like a hotel.
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