ENGLISH
REFERENCE

busman's holiday

idiom
Meaning

A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work.


Origin

disputed origin

From busman + -’s + holiday, from the idea that a bus driver, to go off on a holiday, would take an excursion by bus or go on a long drive and thereby engage in a similar activity to his work.

Examples
SIMPLE

For a busman's holiday, the chef cooked dinner at the beach house.

CONTEXTUAL

The teacher spent her summer break tutoring her niece, which felt like a busman's holiday.

COMPLEX

The architect, unable to stop designing, found himself sketching floor plans during his Mediterranean cruise — a true busman's holiday that his wife found both amusing and exhausting.

Anchors to
Related idioms1entry
  1. 01

    all holiday

    A saying signifying that the business or person spoken of or alluded to is finished, i.e. that it has no future.

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