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.
   • 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.

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

Translations

unrewarding work

• Chinese:

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

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

See also

• donkey work
• God's work