blood, sweat and tears

English

Alternative forms

blood, sweat, and tears (Oxford comma)

Etymology

Popularized through a famous speech made by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons in 1940,^[1] with slight modification, but already present in earlier poetry.^[2]

More information

May be an extension of a much older Indo-European poetic formula “blood and tears”; compare e.g. Hittite 𒂊𒌍𒄩𒉌 𒅖𒄩𒄴𒊒𒌑𒄿 (e-eš-ḫa-ni iš-ḫa-aḫ-ru-ú-i, “in blood [and] in tear(s)”).^[3] It is common in Indo-European oral traditions to juxtapose three bodily substances pertaining to a certain theme, such as “flesh, bone and marrow” for the internal solids (cf. Calin (2017), pages 143–146).

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Noun

blood, sweat and tears pl (plural only)

(idiomatic) A person's determination and hard work.
We've poured lots of blood, sweat, and tears into this project.
- c. 1680 [1655], William Drummond of Hawthornden, “The History of the Reign of James the Firſt, King of Scotland”, in The History of Scotland […] , Tho. Fabian, page 29:
  […] for if Princes could keep their own, and that which juſtly belongeth unto them, they could not be urged to draw ſuch extraordinary Subſidies from the blood, ſweat, and tears of their people-; […]
- 2021 October 20, Angie Doll explains to Paul Clifton, “We were absolutely at rock bottom...”, in RAIL, number 942, page 37:
  She concludes: "I have put blood, sweat and tears into this business. I am genuinely more excited now than I have ever been. I plan to stick around."

Translations

person's determination and hard work

Cebuano: dugo ug singot
Chinese:
Mandarin: 血汗 (zh) (xuèhàn) (lit. "blood and sweat")
Danish: blod, sved og tårer
Dutch: bloed, zweet en tranen
Finnish: verta, hikeä ja kyyneleitä
German: Blut, Schweiß und Tränen
Italian: sudore, lacrime e sangue
Korean: 피 땀 눈물 (pi ttam nunmul)
Malay: darah, peluh, dan air mata
Norwegian:
Bokmål: blod, svette og tårer

Nynorsk: blod, sveitte og tårer
Polish: krwawica f
Russian: упорный труд и усердие (upornyj trud i userdije)
Spanish: sangre, sudor y lágrimas
Swedish: blod, svett och tårar
Tagalog: dugo at pawis

References

^ Winston Churchill (13 May 1940) Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.””
^ John Donne (1611) An Anatomy of the World‎^[1]: “And learnſt thus much by our Anatomy / That 'tis in vaine to dew, or mollifie / It with thy Teares, or Sweat, or Blood: […]”
^ Calin, Didier (2017) “blood”, in Dictionary of Indo-European Poetic and Religious Themes (Linguistique; 3), Les Cent Chemins, →ISBN, page 36 of 33–37: “BLOOD and TEARS — PIE *éshr̥…hák̑ru”

[1] Winston Churchill (13 May 1940) Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.””

[2] John Donne (1611) An Anatomy of the World‎^[1]: “And learnſt thus much by our Anatomy / That 'tis in vaine to dew, or mollifie / It with thy Teares, or Sweat, or Blood: […]”

[3] Calin, Didier (2017) “blood”, in Dictionary of Indo-European Poetic and Religious Themes (Linguistique; 3), Les Cent Chemins, →ISBN, page 36 of 33–37: “BLOOD and TEARS — PIE *éshr̥…hák̑ru”

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