IDIOMS: THE DAILY GRIND

This year, we are all especially looking forward to taking a break from what is known in English as ‘the daily grind’, that is, daily routine: one’s usual work and activity that is boring and routine, be that office or factory work, housework or schoolwork. The term first appeared in the Illustrated London News in the mid-1800s. While it would seem to compare dull work to preparing flour to make bread, in fact, the word ‘grind’ has been used since the 1600s to mean to wear down or to oppress. By the 1700s, it was also being used as a noun, meaning a routine or task that wears one down through repetition and dullness. Of course, what is ‘a grind’ for one person may, in fact, be meditative or even enjoyable for another!