a Herculean task
Meaning: An extremely difficult job requiring huge effort.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Cleaning up the river after the flood was a Herculean task.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From the Twelve Labors of Hercules in Greek myth, including cleaning the Augean stables. The adjective is found in English from the 16th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Un travail de Titan — literally: A Titan's labor
More idioms — Daily Life
- on the sidelines — Not taking an active part; left out.
- at full tilt — At full speed or with full force.
- my bad — My mistake; sorry.
- drive someone up the wall — To annoy someone intensely.
- right up one's alley — Exactly suited to someone's interests or skills.
- have the luck of the devil — To be extraordinarily lucky.
More English idioms
- a stab in the back — A betrayal by someone one trusted.
- the light at the end of the tunnel — A sign that a long, difficult period is ending.
- freeze one's butt off — To be extremely cold.
- be in clover — To live in comfort and luxury.
- go downhill — To get steadily worse.
- hightail it — To leave in a great hurry.
From our untranslatable words
- Koi no yokan — The intuitive feeling upon first meeting someone that you will inevitably fall in love wi…
- Amae — The comfortable feeling of depending on another's goodwill — leaning into someone's indul…
- Weltschmerz — The weariness and sadness you feel when the world as it is falls painfully short of the w…