[jjk166]

Sure, and when they are doing that they are doing goon work. The rest of the time they're doing what they are actually employed to do.

All jobs are made up of numerous tasks, but just because the CEO tidies his desk periodically does not make him a janitorial worker.

[MichaelZuo]

So who then gets to decide the threshold of time that qualifies?

[krapp]

"Goon work" is not a legal or scientific term of art, there is no qualified authority deciding on a threshold of time under which an objective definition is determined. It's not like there's a "model goon" somewhere like there is a model kilogram.

[MichaelZuo]

If that’s the case, then how is it any more meaningful than any other random utterance?

e.g. Magical unicorn work, lizardmen work, etc…

[jjk166]

The same people who decided the threshold of time where things stop being current and start being past.

It's language, it's describing an abstract concept.

[MichaelZuo]

How do you know it’s the same people?

There are an infinite number of possible abstract concepts.