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I English, we have only one form of the infinitive "to be" and it sounds permanent. Saying "I am an accountant" is tantamount to a reflection of identity rather than career, as does "I am bipolar" or "I am a Democrat."

But what if you're no longer that thing?

In other languages, Spanish included, two forms of "to be" exist, one permanent, and one temporary, to indicate to the listener what the speaker is referencing. So in English when we say "I am..." followed by an idea or a belief (or God forb…

Great point about the importance of what ideas can be expressed via language!

I think this is a bleed-through from those careers that are very close to a lifestyle. Police, military, fireman, all kinds of artists and musicians and writers come to mind.

Whereas f.e. a plumber or a teacher need not "wear their professional suit" after hours, a fireman (or a nurse) is sort-of always on-call should circumstances warrant they act.

I think this has permeated the English language ever since the idea of l…

That’s very deep.

Thank you, but I can't take credit - it is something I was taught when I started working in a factory, at age 15, making parts for water taps.

"Who you are when you go home, that's you. At work, no-one cares because we're here to do a job and get paid, that's all." is the gist of what the older men told me back then.