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  1. #1
    san2612 is offline Member
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    Default the difference among grind/ labour/toil/ drudgery

    I have trouble to understand the differences among these terms.

    For example, why do we use them (and not the others) in these sentences:

    1. The weekend is over, so tomorrow morning it's back to the ..............

    A grind B labour C drudgery D toil

    The answer is A. grind

    2. Looking after a house, four children, a lazy husband and two dogs is real.................

    A grind B labour C drudgery D toil

    The answer is B. labour

  2. #2
    JMurray is online now Senior Member
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    Default Re: the difference among grind/ labour/toil/ drudgery

    I have trouble to understand the differences among these terms.
    For example, why do we use them (and not the others) in these sentences:
    1. The weekend is over, so tomorrow morning it's back to the ..............
    A grind B labour C drudgery D toil
    The answer is A. grind

    2. Looking after a house, four children, a lazy husband and two dogs is real.................
    A grind B labour C drudgery D toil
    The answer is B. labour


    san2612.
    1) There's not a lot of difference in the four terms although "grind" is probably the more natural one to choose. The common phrase "the daily grind" often refers to the work required by your employment day after day during the working week.
    2) Personally, I feel "drudgery" is the best answer here because it's so often used to refer to dull repetitive work in a domestic situation (i.e. around the house). The other natural form would be "... is a real grind", which has a similar sense. On the other hand "labour" and "toil", although not incorrect ("hard labour" works better), don't strike me as terms a native speaker is likely to use so naturally.

    not a teacher

  3. #3
    5jj's Avatar
    5jj
    5jj is online now Moderator
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    Default Re: the difference among grind/ labour/toil/ drudgery

    Incidentally, we speak of the difference(s) between, not among, any number of people or things.

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