a devil of a job
A difficult or frustrating time; much difficulty. I'm having a devil of a job getting this window open—I think it has been painted shut. We had a devil of a job convincing Grandpa to go to the doctor for that bad cough. I thought that assignment was easy, so I'm surprised to hear you guys had a devil of a job with it.
a devil of a time
A difficult or frustrating time; much difficulty. I'm having a devil of a time getting this window open—I think it has been painted shut. We had a devil of a time convincing Grandpa to go to the doctor for that bad cough. I thought that assignment was easy, so I'm surprised to hear you guys had a devil of a time with it.
a/the devil of a (something)
Used as an intensifier to indicate an extreme degree of something, especially that which is difficult, frustrating, or vexing. I'm having the devil of a time getting this computer to work. Something must be wrong with it. We knew it would be a devil of a job overhauling the entire network, but it was unavoidable. These weeds can become a devil of a nuisance if you let them grow for too long.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
devil of a
Also,
one devil or the devil of a ;
hell of a. Infernally annoying or difficult, as in
This is a devil of an assembly job, or
She had one devil of a time getting through the traffic, or
I had a hell of a morning sitting in that doctor's office. The first expression dates from the mid-1700s. The variant is a couple of decades newer and its precise meaning depends on the context. For example,
We had a hell of a time getting here invariably means we had a very difficult or annoying time, but
He is one hell of a driver could mean that he is either very good or very bad (see
hell of a, def. 2).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.