释义 |
glutton for punishment
a glutton for punishmentA person who continues to do things whose consequences they find difficult or unpleasant. I couldn't wait to finish college, but I soon found myself in grad school. I must be a glutton for punishment. Why does George keep getting detention? Is he a glutton for punishment?See also: glutton, punishmentglutton for punishmentFig. someone who is eager for a burden or some sort of difficulty; someone willing to accept a difficult task. Tom works too hard. He is a glutton for punishment. I enjoy managing difficult projects, but I am a glutton for punishment.See also: glutton, punishmentglutton for punishmentSomeone who habitually takes on burdensome or unpleasant tasks or unreasonable amounts of work. For example, Rose agreed to organize the church fair for the third year in a row-she's a glutton for punishment . This expression originated as a glutton for work in the late 1800s, punishment being substituted about a century later. See also: glutton, punishmentglutton for punishment, aA masochist, a person who seeks out odious or onerous tasks, or habitually takes on more than is reasonable. The earliest version of this term was a glutton for work and dates from the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was used by Kipling in his story A Day’s Work (1895): “He’s honest, and a glutton for work.” Whether work is viewed as punishment or not is clearly up to the viewer. The OED, which cites a glutton for punishment only in 1971, makes no such judgment.See also: gluttonAcronymsSeeGFP |