donkey work

• donkey-work, donkeywork

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donkey work (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Work that is difficult, boring, and routine.

   Why does everyone else get the interesting work while I have to do all the donkey work, and even the company's dirty work?

   • 2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 161:

     Labi said she did not need to carry planks of wood on her head any more, it was donkey work for idiots

   • 2022, The Atlantic:

     But what looks like donkeywork is a necessary step in a formulaic approach, a set of prescribed practices that have their own embedded wisdom.

• collar-work
• God's work
• grunt work