"It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 20:54:50 -0400, Baker, John <JMB at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:

>        The idea has been around for a while.  From Orwell, Down and Out
>in Paris and London (1933):
>
>        <<People have a way of taking it for granted that all work is
>done for a sound purpose.  They see somebody else doing a disagreeable
>job, and think that they have solved things by saying that the job is
>necessary.  Coal-mining, for example, is hard work, but it is necessary
>- we must have coal.  Working in the sewers is unpleasant, but somebody
>must work in the sewers.>>

Earlier still, from Agatha Christie's _The Seven Dials Mystery_ (1929):

-----
"I'll go," said Ronny. "It's a rotten job, but somebody's got to do it,"
he looked at Jimmy.
http://print.google.com/print?id=9f6zEymC7HIC&q=rotten-job
-----


--Ben Zimmer