Pe0n - English Usage

English Usage

The English words peon and peonage were derived from the Spanish word, and have a variety of meanings related to the Spanish usage, as well as some other meanings. In addition to the meaning of forced laborer, a peon may also be a person with little authority, often assigned unskilled tasks; an underling. In this sense, peon can be used in either a derogatory or self-effacing context.

However, the term has a historical basis and usage related to much more severe conditions of forced labor.

• American English: in a historical and legal sense, peon generally referred to someone working in an unfree labor system (known as peonage). The word often implied debt bondage and/or indentured servitude.

There are other usages in contemporary cultures:

• South Asian English: a peon is an office boy, an attendant, or an orderly, a person kept around for odd jobs (and, historically, a policeman or foot soldier). (In an unrelated South Asian sense, "peon" may also be an alternative spelling for the poon tree (genus Calophyllum) or its wood, especially when used in boat-building.)
• Shanghai: among native Chinese working in firms where English is spoken, the word has been phonetically reinterpreted as "pee-on", and refers to a worker with little authority, who suffers indignities from superiors.
• Computing slang: a peon is an "unprivileged user"—a person without special privileges on a computer system (compare luser) The other extreme is "superuser" (compare systems administrator).
• Financial trading slang: a peon is a market participant who trades in small quantities or a small account.