[rljy]

It does mean that in Czech. Which is strange, because in Slovak it just means work.

I've translated a paragraph from wikipedia for you:

"Robota neboli poddanství je ve feudálním systému osobní služba sedláků a rolníků pro jejich pány. Robotník je pak výraz pro poddaného robotujícího pro svého pána, někdy též vyššího správního či soudního úředníka, drába apod."

"Robota is a feudal system of personal employment to the owners of estates and country houses. A robotník is a person who works for his/her lord."

https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robota

Edit: I listened to the play by Karel and Josef Čápek, and it is most inanely stupid, sexist, pseudo-religious drivel I've come across in a long while. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.

Edit2: The verb robit means to make something and has nothing to do with slavery.

[omegaham]

I liked Asimov's quote on it.

> Capek's play is, in my own opinion, a terribly bad one, but it is immortal for that one word. It contributed the word 'robot' not only to English but, through English, to all the languages in which science fiction is now written.

[blacksmith_tb]

Capek's War with the Newts [1] is a little better read (I have only read it in translation, admittedly).

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_with_the_Newts#As_satire_a...