busman's holiday

English

WOTD – 27 September 2024

Etymology

From busman +‎ -’s +‎ holiday, from the idea that a bus driver, to go off on a holiday, would take an excursion by bus or go on a long drive and thereby engage in a similar activity to his work.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɒlɪdeɪ/, /-di/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bus‧man’s hol‧i‧day

Noun

busman's holiday (plural busman's holidays or busmen's holidays)

1. (idiomatic) A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work. [from late 19th c.]
   • 1893 April, Albert Chevalier, “On Costers and Music Halls”, in Clement Kinloch-Cooke, editor, The English Illustrated Magazine, volume X, number 115, London: The Illustrated London News, →OCLC, page 488, column 2:

     I shall indeed take a holiday soon, probably on the Continent; but it will be a "Busman's Holiday." The bus-driver spends his "day off" in driving on a pal's bus, on the box-seat by his pal's side; and I know that night after night, all through my holiday, I shall be in and out of this hall and that theatre, never happy except when I am watching some theatrical piece or Variety entertainment.

     The author was an English music hall performer. This is the earliest attestation of the term listed in the Oxford English Dictionary.

   • 1914 August 7, “Things One would Like to Know”, in The Surveyor and Municipal and County Engineer, volume XLVI, number 1,177, London: The St. Bride’s Press, […], →OCLC, page 196, column 2:

     Is not the following a rather notable instance of "the busman's holiday"? At a recent meeting of the Twickenham Education Committee Mr. F. W. Pearce, who is surveyor to that body as well as to the urban district council, was asked what progress had been made with regard to the affixing of tablets on historic houses in the district. To this Mr. Pearce replied that he felt responsible for any delay in the matter, but would devote to it the first week of his holiday!

   • 1933 October, John Galsworthy, chapter XVI, in Over the River, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 123:

     In his [a private detective's] opinion one of the chief defects in detective stories—for he was given to busmen's holidays—was that authors made their 'sleuths' like unto the angels, watching for days without, so to speak, taking their eye off the ball. It was not so in real life.

   • 1968 March–April, Samuel Young, “Cervinia”, in Doug Pfeiffer, editor, Skiing, volume 20, number 6, Chicago, Ill.: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, →ISSN, page 51, column 1:

     Cervinia is a Mecca for the skiing greats of the world. When the season is over at home—even as long a season as at Colorado's Snowmass—the pros take their busmen's holidays on the sunny slopes of the Plateau Rosa.

   • 1969, George G. Bruntz, John Bremer, “The Federal Court System”, in American Government, [Boston, Mass.]: Ginn and Company, →OCLC, unit V (Our Federal Courts Protect Our Liberty), page 252, column 2:

     While it would seem that the judges have a long vacation each year, they actually have a sort of "busman's holiday" in that they take their "homework" with them. They study applications for review during the summer recess.

   • 1994, Diane Heilenman, “Plant Sources”, in Gardening in the Lower Midwest: A Practical Guide for the New Zones 5 and 6, Bloomington; Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 114:

     Although it is in the nature of a busman's holiday, I always try to visit a nursery and a botanic garden when I'm traveling.

   • 2008, A[lexander] B[rian] McKillop, “The Drop on This World”, in Pierre Berton: A Biography, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, →ISBN, part 3 (Celebrity), page 367:

     When he [Pierre Berton] first joined the [Toronto] Star, he had requested an annual five-week holiday. Beland Honderich agreed, but suggested that two of the weeks should be "disguised as an assignment." As a result, Berton's travels produced several multi-part series of columns and Close-Up interviews. Janet [Berton] accompanied him on these busman's holidays whenever circumstances permitted.

   • 2015, Michael Bamberger, Men in Green, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 254:

     I have come to realize that the busman's holiday is an elemental part of my life. Actually, I don't know where my work life stops and my recreational life begins.

Translations

holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work

• Finnish: työn kaltainen loma
• Galician: please add this translation if you can

See also

• Thesaurus:vacation

Further reading

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Busman’s holiday”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.