malochen

What it means

1. 1.

   To graft, to slog — hard physical or grinding work, with a note of grievance about it. You malochst on a building site or through a double shift, never at a pleasant desk job.

2. 2.

   The noun Maloche is the work itself: 'ab zur Maloche', off to the grind.

Examples with translations

• Ich hab den ganzen Samstag malocht.

  I grafted the whole of Saturday.

• Er malocht seit dreißig Jahren im Schichtbetrieb.

  He's been slogging away on shifts for thirty years.

Where it comes from

From Yiddish melocho (מלאכה), 'work, craft', ultimately Hebrew melakhah, which reached German through Rotwelsch, the cant of travellers and traders. It is strongly associated with the Ruhr and its mining and steel industry, but is understood and used nationally.

First attested: 19th century

Other forms

Similar terms:

schuften, ackern, rackern