【使用地区】：英国

【释义】：

To work hard at physical labor．A navvy was a man who worked on the many canals that were excavated in England starting in the mid—eighteenth century．These canals were called“navigations，”and a laborer working on one was dubbed a“navigator，”this soon being shortened to navvy，q．v．

此短语意为“努力干体力活”。navvy一词指在18世纪中期开始指“挖掘运河的工人”。这些运河名叫navigations(导航，领航)；在这里劳作的体力劳动者叫做navigator(导航员，领航员)。后来很快缩写为navvy(参见该条)。