back to the salt mines

Idioms and Phrases

Resume work, usually with some reluctance, as in With my slavedriver of a boss, even on Saturdays it's back to the salt mines . This term alludes to the Russian practice of punishing prisoners by sending them to work in the salt mines of Siberia. Today the term is only used ironically. [Late 1800s] Also see keep one's nose to the grindstone .