a busman's holiday
/ə ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɒlədeɪ/INFORMAL · C2
Meaning
time off spent doing the same kind of thing as your job
Examples
- 1For a chef, cooking for twenty relatives at Christmas is a busman's holiday.
- 2Our maths teacher spent the summer marking exam papers, which was a busman's holiday for her.
- 3Tom drives a taxi all week, so a road trip with his family feels like a busman's holiday.
- 4Isn't touring other hospitals during your week off a bit of a busman's holiday for a nurse?
- 5Priya, a tour guide, says a weekend showing friends round London is a busman's holiday.
Grammar
Keep a and the possessive busman's fixed. It usually follows be or feel like.
More idioms about travel
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →a change of scenea stay somewhere new that helps you feel betterin the same boatsharing a difficult situation with other peopleback on trackmaking good progress again after a problemlight at the end of the tunnela sign that a long hard time will soon be overat a crossroadsat a point where you must make an important choicesteer clear ofto avoid someone or something that may cause problems
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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