Elbow grease means vigorous and strenuous physical effort, especially with one’s arms and hands when cleaning something.
Elbow grease is usually used as part of phrases such as the following:
- Use (some) elbow grease
- Need (some) elbow grease
- (It will) take some elbow grease
- Put some elbow grease into it
While elbow grease tends to refer specifically to cleaning, it can be used to signify any kind of hard work.
Origin of “Elbow Grease”
Used since the first half of the 1600s, this idiom may allude to the idea that the elbow is the part of the arm that provides strength to a task, or to the elbow having to flex and extend vigorously when scrubbing something clean. It is also claimed to refer to sweat running down a person’s arm thus applying “grease” to the job being performed. Although the expression first referred to cleaning, it later was extended to refer to any type of hard work.
“Elbow Grease” vs. “More Grease to Your Elbow”
A phrase that frequently causes confusion is “more grease to your elbow.” In standard American and British English, this expression does not exist and is usually a misquote or misheard version of “put some elbow grease into it.”
However, “more grease to your elbow” has developed a genuine life of its own in Nigerian English (and other West African English dialects) as an expression of encouragement meaning “keep up the good work” or “more power to you.” This localized phrase blends the British idiom “more power to your elbow” with the concept of elbow grease.
Let’s break down the allusion in this wonderful new idiom! It functions as a metaphorical mechanical upgrade:
- More power to your elbow: The original British idiom wishes someone strength, energy, or luck in their efforts.
- Elbow grease: This represents the actual physical exertion and labor required to do the job.
- More grease to your elbow: This new combination combines the two into a strong metaphor for wishing someone an endless supply of “lubricant” (stamina, vigor, and perseverance) so their their “engine” doesn’t grind to a halt while doing hard work.
It takes an abstract blessing (“may you have power”) and grounds it in a very practical, working-class metaphor (“may your joints never run dry while scrubbing/working”).
In Nigerian English, where expressive, energetic, and vivid blessings are a core part of daily linguistic warmth, adding “grease” turns a standard British compliment into a much more expressive wish for enduring stamina and sustained productivity. This is an example of language evolution in action.
Usage Tip: If you are speaking in standard global business or conversational English, stick to “put some elbow grease into it” or “use some elbow grease.”
Video Presentation
Sentence Examples
“You don’t have to use so much cleanser in the tub. Just use some elbow grease.”
“It took a lot of elbow grease but I finally got these floors clean.”
“The car is covered with bird droppings. It’s gonna take some real elbow grease to wash.”
“Alright guys,” said the boss, “let’s get this order out. Put some elbow grease into it.”
Similar and Related Idioms
- Put Your Back Into It: Used to urge someone to exertion or hard physical effort when performing a demanding task.
- Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Represents intense physical effort, emotional suffering, and hard work dedicated to achieving a goal.
- Work One’s Fingers To the Bone: To work extremely hard for a prolonged period of time.
- Put Your nose to the Grindstone: To work hard, steadily, and continuously on a task without distraction or pause.
- Burn the Midnight Oil:
- Grunt Work: Routine, repetitive, or physically demanding labor that is often tedious or unglamorous.
- Scut Work: Menial, undesirable, or routine tasks typically assigned to junior workers, trainees, or subordinates
- Spadework: The initial, hard introductory labor or background research required to lay the foundation for a project.
- Heavy Lifting: The most difficult, demanding, or critical part of a effort or project
- Thankless Task: A difficult or unpleasant job that brings no recognition, appreciation, or reward despite the effort put into it.
- Dirty Work: Unpleasant, unethical, or dishonest work, or literally messy physical labor that others prefer to avoid.