Consider the situation where I am handling a project, and now my manager assigns me one more.
So I want to express to him that it will be hard work. I am in software, so taking on two projects will require more hours of sitting.
I thought of the following ways to express it:
- With the two projects, I will be burning candles at both ends
- With the two projects, I will have my nose to the grindstone.
I am trying to use idioms here. Are they correct usage?
Any other way to express the same with impactful words
Best Answer
The first idiom is correctly "burning the candle at both ends". (It is never used with the plural "candles".) The original metaphor was lighting a candle at both the top and the bottom, so that it gave more light, and more work could be done, but only for a shorter time because the candle would burn up twice as fast. In modern use, this idiom suggests not so much working harder as working longer hours, "pulling all-nighters" with the further implication that this us possible only for a limited time. That may not be quite the meaning you want here.
Your second idiom "nose to the grindstone" fits the situation described naturally, and needs no adjustment.
A possible third idiom would be:
This suggests that the speaker is being over-worked.
A possible fourth idiom would be:
This suggests that the speaker will be working at the maximum possible pace, but does not imply that the pace cannot be sustained.