grunt work

See also: gruntwork

English

Etymology

From the verb grunt.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɡɹʌ̃nʔwɝk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

grunt work (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Work (especially that which is heavy, repetitive or mindless) that is considered undesirable and therefore delegated to underlings.

   He plans to hire somebody to do the grunt work of digging the trenches for the pipes.

   • 1990 December 9, Maida Tilchen, “Closer To Near”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 14:

     She has not only participated in the left as a star, even though she came into the role quite young. When Holly was between entertainment jobs, she volunteered for grunt work in anti-war organizations.

Translations

unrewarding work

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 枯燥乏味的工作 (kūzào fáwèi de gōngzuò)

• Finnish: hanttihomma
• Ottoman Turkish: حماللق (hamallık)
• Polish: robota głupiego (pl) f, czarna robota f
• Russian: чёрная рабо́та f (čórnaja rabóta)

See also

• donkey work
• God's work