nice work if you can get it

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Phrase

nice work if you can get it

1. Used to describe a job that is unusually desirable, but not easy to get.
   • 1959, Frank Gill Slaughter, Trio: Three Complete Novels, page 44:

     "Nice work if you can get it to do," returned Tim. "Usually those jobs have so many applicants that they don't pay enough to feed a flea.”

   • 1963, Norman D. Ford, How to Travel and Get Paid for it, page 6:

     Don't let anyone tell you that you must work overseas to travel —it's nice work if you can get it but if you can't, you can travel just as far if you plan and go about it in the right way.

   • 1998, Atticus Falcon, Planet Law School, page 278:

     One year after he got out of law school, he was chosen to head the Family Law Section of the State Bar— at the ripe old age of 26. —Nice work, if you can get it ... and maybe you can get it, if you're alert (and work your butt off).

Further reading

• “nice work if you can get it”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.