> I recently had a German student explain to me that they understand hard (but dumb) work as what this phrase means. Not quite. It's a phrase derived from "Pr

> I recently had a German student explain to me that they understand hard (but dumb) work as what this phrase means. Not quite. It's a phrase derived from "Protestant Work Ethic": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic Stripped of the religious connotations the phrase as commonly used (eg. "having a good work ethic") essentially means "feeling an obligation to consistently work hard for your employer".