What does the phrase “elbow grease” mean?

When somebody tells you to “Use a little more elbow grease”, what they are saying is put a little more effort into the task at hand. As for the origin of the phrase, well, your guess is as good as mine.

Elbow Grease Idiom

Elbow Greese

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RE:
What does the phrase "elbow grease" mean?

It means “greasing you elbow” . Something like put more hard work.

It means hard work…like if someone says “Put some Elbow Grease into it” they mean work harder.

You know what you have to do to get that stubborn bit of mildew off your bathroom tiles? You gotta get in there on your hands and knees and go after that sucker, clench your jaw real tight and scrub away….?! That’s elbow grease – putting a lot of hard work into a task to make it come to fruition. Not just for bathroom floors though…lol.

To use your arms in hard work.

means,scrub hard, clean it well. brenda

hard work