Bailiwick is an old English word, which is generally used to describe an area of jurisdiction, authority or expertise. It can also be used colloquially to describe an area of expertise or interest that someone pays particular attention to or is knowledgeable about, and can be used both in a positive and negative way.
For example, a politician could talk about their ‘bailiwick’ when discussing the area of policy for which they are responsible, or someone could say that playing bridge is their 'bailiwick' to describe the fact that they are very knowledgeable about the game.
The term can also be used less formally, and is often used to describe something that someone can do very easily – for example, you might hear someone say that ‘maths is not my bailiwick’ to indicate that they struggle with the subject.
In recent years bailiwick has been used to mean ‘area of expertise’, ‘area of knowledge’ or ‘expertise in an area’ when used in more general terms.
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