Learn English – Meaning and origin of “the grind of the day”

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Somebody told me today in chat:

before i get into the grind of my day… is there anything you are waiting on from us or need asap?

What does the expression the grind of my day mean? Where does it come from?

Best Answer

One of the colloquial definitions of grind is (from the Oxford English Dictionary):

Steady hard work; labour of a monotonous kind, esp. close and hard study; an instance of this, a dull and laborious task.

The first written use of this is:

1851 B. H. Hall Coll. College Words, Grind, an exaction; an oppressive action. Students speak of a very long lesson which they are required to learn, or of anything which is very unpleasant or difficult to perform as a grind.

So the grind of one's day would be the daily, monotonous work that one has to do. It is more common to refer to this as the daily grind.

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