Work idioms

A backlog of work

• Some activity demanding and gratifying

• Activities or tasks that are unpleasant or dishonest and given to someone else to undertake.

• Amount of work that you should have done before and must do now

• Helping people who are suffering and saving lives any time any place in the world

A good day´s work

• Work traditionally and historically undertaken by women, especially tasks of a domestic nature such as cooking, needlework, and child rearing.

• Form of temporary employment linked to specific periods of the year and sectors

• Boring because nothing new or interesting ever happens

• A very productive day

A life´s work

• To work extremely hard

• To work all day, every day; to work an excessive amount

• To do something quickly and with little effort

• The main purpose or activity in a person’s life, or their greatest achievement

A work of art

• Needing a lot of people to do it

• Something that is made or done in a skillful or attractive way.

• Something that is being developed or suggested but that is not yet complete

• Form of temporary employment linked to specific periods of the year and sectors

A work of fiction

• To work very hard

• A fictional account; story

  A fictitious account: an account of events that never took place.

• Work comprising recurring periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in rotation.

• Helping people who are suffering and saving lives any time any place in the world

Back-breaking work

• Amount of work that you should have done before and must do now

• A very productive day

• Very hard and tiring (of physical work)

• Some activity demanding and gratifying

Dirty work

• Activities or tasks that are unpleasant or dishonest and given to someone else to undertake.

• The hard boring part of a job or task

• Work comprising recurring periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in rotation.

• To work extremely hard

Donkey work

• To work very hard

• The hard and boring part of a job or task

• Work comprising recurring periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in rotation.

• To work extremely hard

Humanitarian work

• To work all day, every day; to work an excessive amount

• Needing a lot of people to do it

• Helping people who are suffering and saving lives any time any place in the world

• Some activity demanding and gratifying

Humdrum

• Very hard and tiring (of physical work)

• A very productive day

• Boring because nothing new or interesting ever happens

• Something that is made or done in a skillful or attractive way.