What does the Phrase “keep your ear to the grindstone” Mean?
What does the phrase "keep your ear to the grindstone" mean? Could you provide some context or examples of how this expression is used in everyday language?
10 Answers
Feb 18, 2025
I believe the saying is “Keep your nose to the grindstone.” A person that works very hard for a long time, is someone that keeps their nose to the grindstone.
If you have seen the movie “Good Will Hunting” in the job interview scene with Ben Affleck, he says at the end of the interview “keep your ear to the grindstone” which was meant to be a funny misquote of “keep your nose to the grindstone”
Do you mean keep “nose to grindstone”? meaning keep working at what you are supposed to be doing. Never heard of keep ear to grindstone at all.
Feb 17, 2025
I think the term’s “Keep your nose to the grindstone”. And I believe it means to work hard.
Feb 22, 2025
It’s “keep your nose to(ward) the grindstone”. Meaning pay attention to what you are doing or you could get hurt. I like “mind your P’s and Q’s” better; P’s being Pints of beer and Q’s being Quarts of beer. Basically meaning shut up and drink your beer.
“It’s keep your feet on the ground, your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel.” A grinder who sharƿє-ṅєd knives all day had to keep his shoulder to the wheel and his nose close to the grind stone and his feet flat on the ground for leverage.
It’s a deliberate misquote, used as a humourous line in the film (‘movie’) Good Will Hunting.
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