back to the salt mines
Back 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? Everyone took a two-week break after the successful launch of our latest product, but now it's back to the salt mines.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
back to the salt mines
Cliché 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.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
back to the salt mines
Resume 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.
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.
back to the salt mines
phr. back to the workplace. Well, it’s Monday morning. Back to the salt mines.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
back to the salt mines
It’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.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer