Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2017 March 1

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March 1

Taskrabbit and Upwork

“The rapid growth of marketplace companies, like Taskrabbit and Upwork further fuel the trend(referring to telecommuting). In fact, according to a 2016 study from Harvard, the average American would take an 8 percent pay cut just to work from home!”The author refers to Taskrabbit and Upwork as marketplace companies. I wonder what exactly marketplace companies are. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.128.178.21 (talk) 00:55, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities#marketplace companies for a similar question yesterday. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 05:25, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

Doesn't seem to be referring to the same concept, though... the thread in Humanities is talking about insurance companies, which these are not. TaskRabbit and Upwork are freelancing platforms – employers looking to hire someone for a particular task (for instance, web design, or translation) will post a job offer, and interested freelancers can apply. See also Online marketplace. --FlyingAce (talk) 05:03, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Essentially, a company whose business is to create a marketplace, especially one where goods and services are more easily traded than before. For example, companies like AirBnB create a marketplace for short term accommodation which is much more efficient than the offline alternatives. --165.225.80.99 (talk) 14:00, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

sign off approvals

I am not sure about what "sign off approvals" means, as in "We can sign off approvals from our smartphones, pitch in on Slack from the subway and teleconference over Skype." Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.249.210.155 (talk) 10:00, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

It means the English language has deteriorated beyond recognition. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 10:29, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

s/deteriorated/evolved/ for WP:NPOV --217.140.96.140 (talk) 11:25, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

wikt:sign off, meaning 3: "to give one's official approval to something for which it is needed". --217.140.96.140 (talk) 11:25, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

One person does a piece of work. Someone else has to check it and approve it - and would traditionally add their signature to show that had been done. Now it can be done electronically. Wymspen (talk) 11:26, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

Sign-off can be of a piece of work or something else that needs review and approval, but in this context "approvals" probably means something that needs approval from soneone with appropriate seniority, rather than work that needs reviewing, such as an expenses claim. --165.225.76.95 (talk) 09:53, 2 March 2017 (UTC)