Workers at home who have aching backs and but one writing desk, and that a low one, will find great relief from writing in a standing position (if a recess is out the question), if only for fifteen minutes. My standing desk is a broad mantel shelf. – B.G.A., “Helpful Hints and Suggestions,” in The Writer, August 1887

And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. – Bible, Exodus XXXII

Helen started, and said she feared she had been sitting too long idle. – Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849), Helen, 1834

Desidiousness. Lat. sitting too much; slothfulness, idleness, carelessness. – A New Dictionary of the English Language by Charles Richardson, 1836