donkey work
noun1
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?
- Labi said she did not need to carry planks of wood on her head any more, it was donkey work for idiots2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 161:
1 more example
- But what looks like donkeywork is a necessary step in a formulaic approach, a set of prescribed practices that have their own embedded wisdom.2022, The Atlantic:
- Related terms
- collar-work, God's work, grunt work