slave of the lamp
- noun
- Informal
:
esclavo de la lámpara
- Since the big project started, I've become a slave of the lamp, rarely leaving my desk before midnight.
Examples
-
He realized one day that being a slave of the lamp was damaging his health and relationships.
-
Many young professionals turn into slaves of the lamp hoping to impress their bosses.
-
He is a true slave of the lamp!
-
Many slaves of the lamp forget to take breaks.
-
He realized one day that being a slave of the lamp was damaging his health and relationships.
-
Many young professionals turn into slaves of the lamp hoping to impress their bosses.
-
Since the big project started, I've become a slave of the lamp, rarely leaving my desk before midnight.
Synonyms
18
5.4
A person who spends too much time at their job and cannot stop
A person who works too much and misses family and friends
Antonyms
How Dedicated
- Informal
33
1.3
∞
1.3
- UK
4
5.6
- Offensive
2
7.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
slave + of + the + lamp
The meaning relies on a metaphorical link between 'slave' (someone controlled or dominated) and 'lamp' (implying late-night work or study), so a learner who knows both words could plausibly infer the idea of being enslaved by work done under a lamp. However, this specific phrasing is not a conventional, widely-known idiom in English and requires cultural or contextual inference, so the relation is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Slave of the lamp may come from the image of someone working late by the light of a lamp. If you are a slave of the lamp, the lamp seems to control you and you cannot rest, so the phrase means 'to work too much' and not take time for yourself.