Where did the term elbow grease originate?

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Elbow grease'?. Energetic labour. What's the origin of the phrase 'Elbow grease'?. Elbow grease - Andrew Marvell It has long been said that the best sort of furniture polish is 'elbow-grease', that is, there is no substitute for hard rubbing to create a lustrous shine. read more

Elbow-grease. Energetic and continuous manual labour : e.g. Elbow-grease is the best furniture oil : Fr., huile de bras or de poignet; du foulage (1779). French huile de bras or de poignet is oil of the arm, wrist which is quite close. I think du foulage is fulling, the manual scouring and milling of cloth. read more

Elbow grease is an idiom for working hard at manual labour. It is a figure of speech for humorously indicating nothing else but manual work is required. It is sometimes reported in the form of a snipe hunt, a prank where an apprentice or recruit is sent on an errand to retrieve"elbow grease" by his supervisor. read more