The Amateur

We use the term “amateur” today as a polite put-down. Amateur hour. Rank amateur. Amateur mistake. The implication is always the same: you’re not good enough yet. You’re not serious enough yet. You’re not a professional.

But the word “amateur” actually comes from the Latin amator, which translates to lover. So an amateur isn’t someone who isn’t good at something. It’s someone who loves what they do, who plays for the love of the game.

Somewhere along the way, we turned it into an insult when we decided that being paid for something was the true mark of legitimacy.