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Igor
It’s all in a day’s work
Please help me to understand the phrase "It’s all in a day’s work" in the foloeing context:
"...Wellington (1974) hailed one of his troops, a Thomas Atkins, as an ideal example of a British soldier.
Atkins, the legend states, was wounded, but told his commander, “It’s all right, sir. It’s all in a day’s work.” He then died shortly after."
Apr 9, 2016 4:20 PM
Answers · 8
Thanks for everybody for your kind replies.
For my mind, the written phrase bears two meanings. The correct one could have been understood only from intonation whith which Atkins had pronounced it. If the stress was on the "all", the meaning could be "I have played it off, all my dity, job, all my life and hello heavens". If it were on the "in a day's work", it might have been just simply as "it's my work to earn money, and no fanfares are required".
April 10, 2016
"It's all in a day's work" means "It's my job" or "It's what I normally do anyway" or "It's no big deal!"
April 10, 2016
It’s all in a day’s work" > it is just part of my work that I do (everyday)
April 9, 2016
Yes, James. Now I got it. So, "it's all, and I've done it out, and out of debts of my Earthy duty" - right?
April 9, 2016
Actually not quite: Atkins isn't saying 'it's his duty' he's actually down playing how big a deal his work for the army was. Similar points but different, it encaptures how he acknowledges that his life has come to an end; he has accepted his fate and in quite a casual way he dismisses how big a deal his work and death is, and almost says 'it's nothing'.
April 9, 2016
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Igor
Language Skills
English, French, Japanese, Russian
Learning Language
English, French
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