Resignation vs. Retirement
How one small word changes the meaning of your actions.
This August, I submitted a letter to my department chair, announcing my intention to resign from my position as a history professor. My resignation will become effective May 2022, the end of our university’s academic year.
A day later the dean responded that I should alter one verb in my letter. She advised me to change “resign” to “retire.” If I used the latter, she said, I would be eligible for some retirement benefits that are not offered to employees who simply quit.
Who doesn’t love benefits? I changed my letter as suggested and resubmitted it.
And it has driven me nuts ever since.
What Difference a Word?
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug,” said Mark Twain. The master was correct. Although “resign” and “retire” appear similar, and in the minds of many seem synonymous, they encode different ideas.
Retire suggests stepping down from a productive life — productive in the sense that we moderns define the word as someone who produces something. If you are gainfully employed, you produce something that your employer values. Retirement releases you from…
