the.com/workhorse
The reliable one nobody thanks until it breaks down.
means A person or thing valued for steady, uncomplaining reliability in doing large amounts of necessary work.
from A straightforward 18th-century compound of 'work' plus 'horse' — literally a horse bred and kept for heavy farm or hauling labor, as opposed to a showier riding or racing horse. By the 1800s the word had trotted into figurative use for any dependable, tireless worker, human or machine, that gets the unglamorous jobs done.
- origin
- literally a farm horse bred for labor, not looks
- not a racehorse
- built for endurance, not glory
- office version
- the colleague who never gets credit, only tasks
- irony
- the most essential one is the least celebrated