work till you shop

[marvan]

Hello teachers,

Please, has anyone heard this expression "work till you shop" before? I have found it in a book by David JC MacKay "Sustainable energy - without the hot air", where it is introduced as a traditional saying.
Howerer, I have found only something like "shop till you drop", or "work till you drop" which are pretty clear to me.

What could it mean anyway, have no idea. Thanks a lot.

[BobSmith]

Hello teachers,

Please, has anyone heard this expression "work till you drop" before? I have found it in a book by David JC MacKay "Sustainable energy - without the hot air", where it is introduced as a traditional saying.
Howerer, I have found only something like "shop till you drop", or "work till you drop" which are pretty clear to me.

What could it mean anyway, have no idea. Thanks a lot.

[not a teacher]

I think you repeated yourself, see above.

Anyway, my opinion:

"shop till you drop" - a common phrase in AmE
"work till you drop" - not a common phrase in AmE
"work till you shop" - makes no sense in AmE to me.

[marvan]

Hi, yes I have already corrected it :) Thanks. The strange expression I have found goes like "work till you shop".

[Raymott]

Hi, yes I have already corrected it :) Thanks. The strange expression I have found goes like "work till you shop".

It's possible that he wrote "work till you shop"*, but you'd need a special context for that to make sense. It's not traditional saying. So, in that respect, either the author is wrong, or you have misunderstood his meaning.

* For example, he might be making a point that you have to work first to make money, and then you can shop. Not knowing the book or the author, it's impossible for me to say - though the title does indicate that there is an element of humour and word play in it.

[Shenfeng]

He's most definitely playing on the original phase. I guess what he wants to express by this is that one needn't work oneself into a state of total exhaustion, but that one can do one's work efficiently enough to have enough energy to spare after a day's work to enjoy a little shopping tour which does not relate to shopping alone but to any fun activity.

That's what I get from the title of the book.

[susiedq]

It might be a deliberate mixing of metaphors. It's quite popular in American advertising or humor.

Here's another one:

He’s a wolf in cheap clothing.

[konungursvia]

He's most definitely playing on the original phase. I guess what he wants to express by this is that one needn't work oneself into a state of total exhaustion, but that one can do one's work efficiently enough to have enough energy to spare after a day's work to enjoy a little shopping tour which does not relate to shopping alone but to any fun activity.

That's what I get from the title of the book.

Yes, it's obviously a playful turn of phrase.

[konungursvia]

He's most definitely playing on the original phase. I guess what he wants to express by this is that one needn't work oneself into a state of total exhaustion, but that one can do one's work efficiently enough to have enough energy to spare after a day's work to enjoy a little shopping tour which does not relate to shopping alone but to any fun activity.

That's what I get from the title of the book.

Or, he's mocking consumerism by saying he works to shop.

[marvan]

Hello guys,

Thanks a lot to all of you! I agree that he is mocking consumerism by adjusting a traditional saying so that it suits his purpose.