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dull
all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
Working too much can be bad for one's health or can make one boring. Come out to the pub with us tonight! All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play isn't ideal, but I absolutely must finish this report tonight.
be as dull as dishwater
To be very boring or unexciting. This phrase is often used to describe a person. My date with Dave was not great—he is as dull as dishwater. I fell asleep during that movie because it was as dull as dishwater.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Prov. It is not healthy for someone to work all the time and never play. (Often used to exhort someone to stop working, or to justify why you have stopped working. You can substitute the name of the person you are addressing for Jack.) Don't come to the office this weekend. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I'd like to take a week's vacation next month. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
deadly dull
very dull. The lecture was deadly dull, and I went to sleep. Her story was really deadly dull. I am sorry I was awake for part of it.
*dull as dishwater
and *dull as ditch water very uninteresting. (*Also: as ~.) I'm not surprised that he can't find a partner. He's as dull as dishwater. Mr. Black's speech was as dull as dishwater.
never a dull moment
[it's] always exciting around here. (Describes an exciting or hectic situation.) Every time I visit Jean, she has dozens of things planned for us to do: parties and theaters to attend, restaurants to try, scenic places to see. Never a dull moment. Alan: How was work today? Jane: First of all, my boss called me in to yell at me. Then I had to fire one of my subordinates. And then my desk chair broke when I sat down on it. Never a dull moment.
(there is) never a dull moment
something interesting is always happening One thing about an ice show – there's never a dull moment.
be as dull as dishwater/ditchwater
(informal) to be very boring He loved the book but I thought it was as dull as ditchwater.
all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
Hard work without time for recreation is not good for one's health, as in If Harry keeps up that grueling schedule, he's headed for a breakdown-all work and no play isn't healthy . A proverb included in James Howell's collection of 1659, this phrase remains so familiar that it is often shortened, as in the example.
dull as dishwater
Boring, tedious, as in That lecture was dull as dishwater. The original simile, dull as ditchwater, dating from the 1700s, alluded to the muddy water in roadside ditches. In the first half of the 1900s, perhaps through mispronunciation, it became dishwater, that is, the dingy, grayish water in which dirty dishes had soaked.
never a dull moment
Something is always changing or happening, as in First Lauren spits up, then she coughs, then she sneezes-never a dull moment with this baby! This expression was first recorded in 1889.
(as) dull as dishwater
mod. very dull. Life can be as dull as dishwater.
dull as dishwater
verbdeadly (dull)
mod. very dull. The lecture was deadly dull, and I went to sleep.
dull roar
n. a relatively quiet degree of noisiness. Try to keep it at a dull roar if you can.
Common Names:
| Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
|---|
| Edi | | - | Slovene, Croatian |
| Hiroko | | hee-ṙo-ko | Japanese |
| Maximino | | mahk-see-MEE-no (Spanish) | Spanish, Portuguese |
| Taylor | | TAY-lər | English |
| Gjon | | - | Albanian |
| PÁL | | PAHL | Hungarian |