Way With Words: Elbow Grease

Hard work is a virtue in almost every culture, and in the majority of those, colloquialisms exist that describe just what constitutes working hard.

In the English language, we refer to someone putting in ‘some elbow grease.’ The history of the phrase is well rooted in Europe with many different countries having their own linguistic version to describe effort and hard work.

The Danish have a word ‘knofedt’ translated as “knuckle fat” and the French have ‘huile de coude,’ which translates as ‘elbow grease.’

The term ‘elbow grease’ has been popular in Europe for quite some time, appearing in England in the 17th century in the works of Andrew Marvell in “Rehearsal Transpros'd,” 1672, quoted from phrases.uk.org, “Two or three brawny Fellows in a Corner, with meer Ink and Elbow-grease, do more Harm than an Hundred systematical Divines with their sweaty Preaching.”

Marvell was referring to writings of heretical preachers being circulated, but the meaning of ‘elbow grease’ refers to any physical labor.

The actual term usually referred to manual labor done by lower classes back in the earlier times of its use, but has since evolved to encompass all labor and efforts that an individual puts out.

A fun use of the term comes into play when either a tradesman in a craft, or a superior officer in the navy, sends their apprentice or sailor to fetch them some ‘elbow grease.’

All the clerks and superior officers are in on the joke and in the case of the navy, once the snipe hunt is over, the sailor has inadvertently toured the ship.

‘Elbow grease’ continues to thrive in today’s vernacular, and so long as hard work continues to be a virtue, the phrase will likely continue on.