Where does "elbow grease" come from ?

Answer 1

: The phrase is very old. From the Oxford English Dictionary:

: Elbow-grease (humorous). Vigorous rubbing, proverbially referred to as the best unguent for polishing furniture. Hence, allusively, energetic labour of any kind.

ELBOW GREASE -- "Elbow grease has been a term of 'hard manual labor' since before 1639, 'B.E.'s Dictionary of Canting Crew' (ca. 1698) calling it 'A derisory term for Sweat.' The old joke that 'elbow grease' is the best brand of furniture polish was probably common centuries ago, too, in some form. The phrase was known in France from early times as well (buile de bras)." From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

Answer 2

Elbow grease is an old term for working hard at manual labor or trades. As in "put some elbowgrease into that". It is also used as a practical joke by master tradesperson on apprentices - e.g. "Go fetch some elbow grease from him". Each tradesperson will say someone else has the elbow grease and send the unwitting apprentice on to another master tradesperson. The snipe hunt will continue until the apprentice gives up, catches on or runs out of people/places to search.

Answer 3

Elbow grease
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Elbow grease is an old term for working hard at manual labor or trades. As in "put some elbowgrease into that". It is also used as a practical joke by master tradesperson on apprentices - e.g. "Go fetch some elbow grease from him". Each tradesperson will say someone else has the elbow grease and send the unwitting apprentice on to another master tradesperson. The snipe hunt will continue until the apprentice gives up, catches on or runs out of people/places to search.

Answer 4

I'm glad you asked. You see a few generations ago when people were built at the people factory they had very primitive joints. To accomadate constant motion they required grease guns to lubricate the joints about every 4 hours. So if you needed to play 18 holes of golf you usually needed 2 greasings. Golf wasn't very popular then.

Newer models of humans come with fluid bearings, and sometimes an alien hybrid material called Xenuplasm. We have the Scientologists to thank for their research in that area. Hail Xenu!

Yes so that is where elbow grease is from. You can buy an antique tube of it on ebay for about $8 per ounce.

Answer 5

This has been asked before, so I got this from the web.


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Elbow-grease (humorous). Vigorous rubbing, proverbially referred to as the best unguent for polishing furniture. Hence, allusively, energetic labour of any kind.

ELBOW GREASE -- "Elbow grease has been a term of 'hard manual labor' since before 1639, 'B.E.'s Dictionary of Canting Crew' (ca. 1698) calling it 'A derisory term for Sweat.' The old joke that 'elbow grease' is the best brand of furniture poish was probably common centuries ago, too, in some form. The phrase was known in France from early times as well (buile de bras)." From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

Source(s):
The Phrase Finder

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board...

Answer 6

It is a term used to describe the effort to do something physical. It is used as a term in rite of passage for mechanics. They will send a rookie to look for a "can of elbow grease." If someone tells you to "put some elbow grease into it," they are telling you to work harder.

Answer 7

Strenuous physical effort, as in You'll have to use some elbow grease to get the house painted in time. This term alludes to vigorous use of one's arm in cleaning, polishing, or the like. It soon was extended to any kind of hard work, and Anthony Trollope used it still more figuratively (Thackeray, 1874): “Forethought is the elbow-grease which a novelist ... requires.” [First half of 1600s]

Answer 8

A picture of an elbow covered in grease.

Answer 9

A factory!!!

Can you imagine that loads of people hooked to machines sucking grease out of them like they do with cows to get the milk. Cool. Wounder if they give guided tours. lol

Anyway what would you use elbow grease for!

Answer 10

Elbows.