h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Translation: expand time and effort on a task, usually in vain.

- Le pauvre Peet s'est cassé le cul pendant trois jours à essayer de rebooter sa bécane, tu te rends compte?
- Oui, Peet est un martyr de l'informatique.

Translation
"Do you realize that poor Peet worked like a beaver for three days to try to restart his pooter?" (pooter might be too cutesy)
"I know, he really is the unsung hero of computer technology."

Would it be too vulgar to translate this by "work one's *rse off", I wonder? Not an expression I would use myself, so I suppose what I'm really asking is how the French expression would rate on the vulgarity scale?

I'm sure you've probably come across Michael Swan's 'Practical English Usage', and the section on taboo language, which shows the relative strength of words/phrases by stars: "a one-star word will not upset many people, while a four- or five-star word may be very shocking if it is used in the wrong situation". Would a similar system be useful in FWT?

I'm with you here, Annie!

I've heard Americans say "bust his butt" which (to me) sounds marginally less offensive than the (absolutely correct) Anglo-Saxon version you suggested.

It would be very useful to know where it comes on the "giving genteel French speaking ladies the vapours" scale. I don't entirely trust my young bi-lingual Belgian cousins!

Portia

Only with intimates. I wouldn't use it while talking to dil's mother (the epitome of genteel-ity), but her husband does use it. My son would, when talking to intimates of workmates, and so would my dil who has used more slang since she started working in the audit business (perhaps the male environment). It's a bit vulgar of course but in the privacy of the home it is all right. As usual when uttered in anger, plenty of kkkks.

What is funny is that I would never use either arse or butt, I could write them but not use them. And butt seems less offensive to me too.

I will get busy with my little stars when I have the time. Thanks you for your input both of you.

Thanks Martine - and you're right, arse is definitely more offensive than butt. I think the latter is a transatlantic import and, as such, favoured by the younger generation (I'm not a grandma, but old enough to be one!). Having said that, I think I might say "She's been working her butt off lately" ...

Martine, this is so interesting; thanks for keeping it going. I agree with the others about "working his butt off" being a likely substitute in English. To me, "worked like a beaver" sounds old-fashioned, almost literary - I've never heard it said.

When I was younger, the common expression would have been (apologies in advance - used purely for illustration) "worked like a black". (See Lynne Reid Banks, The L-Shaped Room, where the heroine says this to a black man and instantly realises what she's done. He sees the funny side, responding "Like nothing else!")

My parents might say "worked like stink", which is very much of their generation. They use it as a general intensifer - you can also "run like stink".

Another contemporary expression would be "bust a gut" - "he had to bust a gut to get that done". Again, not genteel, though not actually rude.

Gaye

Gaye, it's good of you to cast your eye on these humble offerings ("a trifle old-fashioned, Martine"). I thought work like a beaver was currently in use. I checked via google and I found it in some blog or othe, but I need your eye for detail.

Would you say "bust a gut"? Is it a generational thing?

Sorry for the typos, I never take the time to preview.

Hey oop , Martine, just passing through.

I would still say "beavering away" but although not really cutesy and definitely not earthy, I might well use it to describe a task undertaken by children. It has the very faintest whiff of polite Fifties English.

petal jam

ps, though not the delightful GG I would say "bust a gut". Like Portia I heard "you'd better bust your ass" in the US - a pretty plain-speaking instruction to someone not pulling their weight.

pps do not use "beaver" in the US in a figurative sense!

Oh no, I am making a point of avoiding the word.