# work like a dog/donkey/cow



## duopixel

Hey all, I'm planning to make a diagram of how we refer to animals when working hard, I'll link it here when it's done. This is what I've figured out so far:

English: "work like a dog/beaver"
Spanish: "working like a donkey/mule"
Chineese: "working like a cow"
French "working like an ox(?)"

If you think your language might be country specific, please specify it.

Thanks!


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## RaLo18

In Hebrew we use donkey (לעבוד כמו חמור, _la'avod kmo khamor_, to work like a donkey), or, more colloquially and less commonly, dog (מעבידים אותו כמו כלב, _ma'avidim 'oto kmo kelev_, they make him work like a dog).


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
Δουλεύω σαν σκυλί (ðul*e*vo san skil*i*)
Work like a dog


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## Awwal12

Russian:
"работать как вол" - [rʌb*o*tət' kʌk v*o*l] - "to work like an ox"
"работать как лошадь" - [rʌb*o*tət' kʌk l*o*ʂət'] - "to work like a horse"
(' - a sign of palatalization here, stresses are marked with bold font)

P.S.: Also an interesting variant "ишачить" [ɪʂ*a*ʨit'] exists; literally it means something like a verb "to donkey"  (i.e. - to work like a donkey). The variant "работать как ишак" [rʌb*o*tət' kək əʂ*a*k], "to work like a donkey", is possible as well. I must mention that the word "ишак" isn't a natural Russian word for a donkey ("осёл"), but loaned from Turkic languages, and it is impossible to say "работать как осёл".


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## Maroseika

Awwal12 said:


> Russian:
> 
> "работать как лошадь" -  "to work like a horse"


Strange enough that Russians are "working like a horse", but "getting tired as a dog"...

Actually, both idioms "to work like a horse/ox" are loaned from the Bible - as well as in many other languages.


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## kittykate

Italian:

_Lavorare come un mulo_ (donkey)

caterina


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## jana.bo99

We say:

Work like a horse: Raditi kao konj

Slovenian: 

Work like a horse: Delati kot konj


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian*: _*dolgozik, mint egy állat*_ [work like an animal, beast]


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## Prima Facie

Never heard in Spanish "work like a monkey". I'd say: Trabajar como un mulo or trabajar como una bestia.


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## ilocas2

Czech:

*dřít jako mezek* to work hard like hinny
*dřít* means "work hard"
hinny is hybrid between donkey-female and horse-male

But nowadays it's a little bit archaic saying.


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## phosphore

Serbian:

raditi kao konj = to work like a horse, the most common
kao pas = like a dog, somewhat less common
kao magarac = like a donkey, less common
kao mazga = like a hinny, the least common, only for women


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## mediterraneo24

In hebrew:
I work like a donkey, and get paid like a dog.


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## anamsc

duopixel said:


> English: "work like a dog/beaver"



I've never heard of "work like a beaver" (maybe "busy as a beaver").  I've heard "work like a dog", but I think that in the US at least, "work like a horse" is more common.  We do say "dog-tired", though!


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## bibax

I am afraid that the old good Czech saying "to work (hard) like a hinny" is not in use anymore. I found only a few occurrences by Google.

Nowadays the most common saying of the same meaning is not politically correct.

*Makám jak barevnej.* (12,400 occurrences on the net, for the 1st pers. sing. merely)

It means: _I work like a coloured._


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## Encolpius

bibax said:


> Nowadays the most common saying of the same meaning is not politically correct.
> 
> *Makám jak barevnej.* (12,400 occurrences on the net, for the 1st pers. sing. merely)
> 
> It means: _I work like a coloured._



Hello, I am not sure but do you use: dřít jako kůň? [like a horse]. Maybe I have heard it. Thanks.


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## phosphore

bibax said:


> I am afraid that the old good Czech saying "to work (hard) like a hinny" is not in use anymore. I found only a few occurrences by Google.
> 
> Nowadays the most common saying of the same meaning is not politically correct.
> 
> *Makám jak barevnej.* (12,400 occurrences on the net, for the 1st pers. sing. merely)
> 
> It means: _I work like a coloured._


 
Here we say raditi kao crnac=to work like a black man.


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## bibax

Interestingly, "dře jako kůň" (= he works like a horse) wins the rally at least on the Czech net.


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## Rallino

In* Turkish*, 3 ways to say it:

Köpek gibi çalışıyorum - I'm working like a dog
Eşek gibi çalışıyorum - I'm working like a donkey
Hayvan gibi çalışıyorum - I'm working like an animal.


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## bibax

> I've never heard of "work like a beaver" (maybe "busy as a beaver"). I've heard "work like a dog", but I think that in the US at least, "work like a horse" is more common. We do say "dog-tired", though!


In British English the most common phrase is _"It's been a hard day's night, and I've been *working like a dog* ..."_.

I heard it a million times in the radio.


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## ThomasK

Dutch: "werken als een paard" (a horse) !


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## jana.bo99

I have found other translation in:

Slovenian: 

Delam kot zamorc (means: I work like a nigger)


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## Elvus

In Polish it would be most common to say:

*Haruję jak wół. *- _I work like an ox.
_*harować jak wół *- _to work like an ox

_*Harować *in fact means _to work very hard _(I don't know what would be the most suitable one-word equivalent in English) while simple _to work _is *pracować*.

Sometimes, but rather rarely, is also possible to hear politically suspected
*harować jak Murzyn *(_to work like a Negro_ - not _like a nigger_ for *Murzyn *is in Polish neutral and commonly used word while the offensive one would be *czarnuch*).


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*: _Tekee töitä* kuin hullu. _Works like a madman. 

I tried to find a suitable animal metaphor on Google, and found _Tekee töitä kuin hevonen_ (works like a horse), but I've never heard of this. I'm sure _hullu_ is way more common.

_____________
* The verb can be changed into a more descriptive one, for example _rehkii kuin hullu_.


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## ThomasK

Would you think that comparison is fairly old, Sakvaka? Or have you always had madmen ? ;-) Or maybe it is not that strange: in my dialect one can 'werken *lijk zot'* (work like (a) mad(man)), but do not use that in standard Dutch ('zot' = 'gek').


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## ilocas2

In Czech there's also _works like fool_ *Pracuje jak blázen*

In fact, it's much more common than other Czech expressions which were meaned in this thread.


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## sakvaka

ThomasK said:


> Would you think that comparison is fairly old, Sakvaka? Or have you always had madmen ? ;-) Or maybe it is not that strange: in my dialect one can 'werken *lijk zot'* (work like (a) mad(man)), but do not use that in standard Dutch ('zot' = 'gek').



How should we define "fairly old", if the written history of Finnish begins in the 16th century?  I think it could be at least hundred years old, but I have no proofs, as you can imagine.

I forgot: it may as well have been taken from the saying _Hullu paljon työtä tekee, viisas pääsee vähemmällä. _A foolish person works a lot, a wise person gets by more easily.


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## ThomasK

That is quite an interesting addition indeed. With us too it means too much, but it does not really mean foolishly, strictly speaking. 

My question about age ;-) was not about 150 years, or something, but rather: have you always heard that expression, or only recently?


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## sakvaka

Always, but you know well how long time that is...


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## Encolpius

duopixel said:


> Hey all, I'm planning to make a diagram of how we refer to *animals when working hard*...



Remember. this should be an *aminal *topic.


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## TracyS221

I've heard work like a beaver / horse / mule plenty of times in the UK. I'm not so familiar with work like a dog.
Interestingly we also refer to 'doing the donkey work'.


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## kloie

I don't know if it's the same thing,but I've heard work like a Hebrew or Hebrew slave.


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## Dymn

(racist) "To work like a black" was/is also popular in many languages, at least Catalan, Spanish, perhaps outdated (fortunately) in English.


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## ilocas2

another Czech one:
*
dře jako Bulhar* - works like a Bulgarian


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## Armas

Finnish dictionary has _raataa kuin juhta_ "to work hard like a beast of burden". I don't remember if I have ever heard that. _Raataa_ means "to work really hard" (from Russian страдать (stradat') "to suffer").


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## sound shift

Where I live, people don't normally say "to work like a" + name of a particular animal (unlike the the Beatles and their "I've been working like a dog").


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## boozer

ilocas2 said:


> another Czech one:
> *
> dře jako Bulhar* - works like a Bulgarian


 You don't say!


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## vlad733

Some Bulgarian expressions:
Work like an ox
Work like a bee / ant (obviously different connotation)
Strong as a bull
Meek as a lamb
Run like a horse
Roar like a donkey
Stubborn as a donkey
Stupid like a sheep
Dumb/silent as a fish
Faithful as a dog
Evil as a dog
Wailing like a dog
Hungry as a wolf / dog
Beaten like a dog
Eat like a pig
Drunk as a swine
Cowardly like a rabbit
Poor like a church mouse
Struggle like a pig with a pumpkin
Singing as a nightingale
Naked / poor as a louse
Remember like an elephant
Sleep like a slaughtered (yeah...)


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## bibax

TracyS221 said:


> I'm not so familiar with work like a dog.





sound shift said:


> Where I live, people don't normally say "to work like a" + name of a particular animal (unlike the the Beatles and their "I've been working like a dog").


Interestingly it is probably the first English idiom I ever heard and [somewhat later] understood. The English movies were usually dubbed. The Hard Day's Night was among few exceptions. You can hear "working like a dog" in the very beginning of the film in the first couplet.

I understand that the "working like a dog" could be just for the rhyme with "sleeping like a log".


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## Messquito

In Chinese, I think buffalo/cow is the most obvious one, others include chicken (waking up early like a hard worker), ants, bees, donkey...


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## Frieder

German: 

fleißig wie eine *Biene* - hard working like a *bee*
schuften wie ein *Ochse* - to toil like an *ox*
sich mit etwas ab*esel*n - to carry something very heavy (like a *donkey*)
emsig (_adj._ derivation of *Ameise*) - diligent/hard-working (like an *ant*)


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## SuperXW

In Chinese, "working like a *bufflalo/cow* (same word)" or sometimes "ant", "bee" is usually a compliment.
However, to mean one is exhausted and even pathetic because of hard-work (or anything), people use "*dog*".


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## franknagy

Encolpius said:


> *Hungarian*: _*dolgozik, mint egy állat*_ [work like an animal, beast]


állat -> güzü = field-vole.

_Látástól_ *vakulásig* dolgozik.

Ze works from _sunrise_ until *sunset*. (Literally from seeing until blinding.) 

Jocularly: 
_Látástól_ *Mikulásig* dolgozik.
Mikulás = Santa Claus.


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## Kotlas

ilocas2 said:


> another Czech one:
> *
> dře jako Bulhar* - works like a Bulgarian



There is an old-fashioned British phrase: to work like a Trojan (to work very hard). But I doubt if it is used nowadays.



Messquito said:


> others include ants, bees,





Frieder said:


> fleißig wie eine *Biene* - hard working like a *bee*





SuperXW said:


> In Chinese, "working like "ant", "bee" is usually a compliment.


Russian also has a phrase with a bee:
*тружусь как пчёлка *(I'm working hard like a bee)


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## Sardokan1.0

*In Sardinian :*

_Tribagliare que un'àinu / que unu mulu_ _- To work like a donkey / like a mule_


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## franknagy

Encolpius said:


> *Hungarian*: _*dolgozik, mint egy állat*_ [work like an animal, beast]


or like a "*güzü*" .
Field vole:


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## Nawaq

duopixel said:


> French "working like an ox(?)"



weirdly, I'm not sure any of those are that common, I only found some people talking about :

"_travailler comme un chien_" /work like a dog
"_travailler comme une bête_" /work like a beast (the most common of them all I'd say)
"_travailler comme un boeuf_" /work like an ox

there are others with _work like a..._ but they aren't about animals.
maybe I didn't look well enough though...


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## aruniyan

In Tamil(Indian),

to work like a cow/ox is used for hard working.
to work like a dog  seen as work like a slave.


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## Włoskipolak 72

Polish 

harować jak dziki osioł = work hard as a wild donkey


harówka (noun) = drudgery , grind , toil
zapracowanie
mordęga
katorga


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