busman's holiday
1
8.4
- noun
- /ˈbʌzmənz ˈhɑːləˌdeɪ/
- UK
:
vacaciones del conductor de autobús
Examples
-
They owned a restaurant and belatedly realized they'd signed up for a busman's holiday.
Fiction book (1999) -
Not given to existential crises, such guys tend to proceed through their work years with an unselfconscious gusto that can make life seem like a busman's holiday.
Academic text (2007) -
After working long hours in the office, she decided to take a busman's holiday by volunteering at a local charity event.
-
As a travel agent, he often found that his vacations turned into a busman's holiday, planning trips for others instead of relaxing.
-
Instead of taking a break from work, she enjoyed a busman's holiday by leading a workshop in her field of expertise.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
busman's + holiday
The phrase transparently combines 'busman' and 'holiday', so a learner will likely infer it relates to a busman's or worker's holiday. However, the conventional sense — that the holiday involves doing the same kind of work as in one's job — is an idiomatic extension of the literal combination and not fully predictable from the constituents alone.
Etymology
The phrase busman's holiday comes from the idea of a busman, a bus driver, who even on his holiday spent the day driving just like he did at work. So it now means a 'holiday' when someone spends their free time doing the same kind of work they do in their job.