bailiwick
noun

- the area that a person or an organisation is interested in, is responsible for, or controls

The Cambridge Dictionary

—
ORIGIN

"Bail" stems from the Latin “bajulus,” meaning porter or someone whose job it is to carry something (pregnant women were once called bailiffs!), and "wick" derives from the Latin “vicus” which means village.

Bailiwick was originally used to describe an area of official responsibility or authority. A few modern bailiwicks still exist such as the Channel Islands of the UK (Jersey and Guernsey).

Bailiwick also refers to a general area of responsibility or expertise. For instance, asking a subordinate to fetch you a cup of coffee might result in the response, “That’s not in my bailiwick.” It’s another way of saying, “It’s not my job.”

—
EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, AND NOBODY

There was an important job to be done and

EVERYBODY was sure that SOMEBODY would do it.

There was an important job to be done and

ANYBODY could have done it, but NOBODY did.

SOMEBODY got angry, because it was EVERYBODY’s job.

EVERYBODY thought ANYBODY could do it, but

NOBODY realised that NOBODY would do it.

It ended up that EVERYBODY blamed SOMEBODY when

NOBODY did what ANYBODY could have done.

—
SYNONYMS

BAILIWICK, business, domain, dominion, jurisdiction, province, realm, responsibility, sphere, turf

—
PRACTICE OWAD
in an English conversation, say something like:

“Sorry Jim, I’m in marketing, computer programming is not in my BAILIWICK.”

—
HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith