Definition of water cooler

water coolernoun

máy làm mát nước

/ˈwɔːtə kuːlə(r)//ˈwɔːtər kuːlər/

The term "water cooler" can be traced back to the early 20th century when employees in offices no longer had to carry heavy bottles of drinking water from a communal source due to the introduction of water cooling devices. These devices used a simple mechanical process that circulated water through a narrow tube submerged in a container filled with water, known as a 'cooler.' The first water cooling devices were developed in the late 1800s to provide ice-cold drinking water to hospital patients. The popularity of these devices soon spread to offices, where employees started calling them "water coolers" due to the convenience of access to cold drinking water. The term quickly became a colloquialism used to describe both the cooling machine and the place where people gathered around it to share gossip and chat, making the water cooler an integral part of workplace culture.

namespace

a machine, for example in an office, that cools water and supplies it for drinking

một cái máy, ví dụ như trong văn phòng, làm mát nước và cung cấp nước để uống

used when referring to a place where office workers talk in an informal way, for example near the water cooler

được sử dụng khi đề cập đến một nơi mà nhân viên văn phòng nói chuyện một cách không chính thức, ví dụ như gần máy làm mát nước

Example:
  • It was a story they'd shared around the water cooler.

    Đó là câu chuyện họ chia sẻ với nhau bên máy làm mát nước.

  • The show has been dominating water-cooler discussions recently.

    Chương trình này đã thống trị các cuộc thảo luận sôi nổi gần đây.