| 释义 |
back to the salt mines back to the salt minesBack to one's job or daily work, especially when it is very hard or unpleasant. (Workers in salt mines were often slaves and prisoners.) Sometimes used humorously. I'm not excited to get back to the salt mines on Monday. When do you get back to the salt mines after your trip?See also: back, mine, saltback to the salt minesCliché time to return to work, school, or something else that might be unpleasant. (The phrase implies that the speaker is a slave who works in the salt mines.) It's one o'clock and lunch break is over. Back to the salt mines. School starts in the fall, so then it's back to the salt mines again.See also: back, mine, saltback to the salt minesResume work, usually with some reluctance, as in With my slavedriver of a boss, even on Saturdays it's back to the salt mines. This term alludes to the Russian practice of punishing prisoners by sending them to work in the salt mines of Siberia. Today the term is only used ironically. [Late 1800s] Also see keep one's nose to the grindstone. See also: back, mine, saltback to the salt mines phr. back to the workplace. Well, it’s Monday morning. Back to the salt mines. See also: back, mine, saltback to the salt minesIt’s time to return to work, implying reluctance to do so. The term refers to the Russian practice of sending prisoners to work in the salt mines of Siberia, common in both imperial and Communist times. Eric Partridge cited an authority who believes it came from a play called Siberia, which was popular in the 1890s.See also: back, mine, salt |