"Until the seventh sweat" is a phrase used as a metaphor for the extreme degree of fatigue of a person performing a particular job, usually of a physical nature.
Expression value
At the moment, the expression "sweaty" is used to illustrate the extreme degree of exhaustion that has been achieved by a person in the course of prolonged continuous performance of some kind of work. At the same time, this phrase is often used in order to emphasize the fact that a person has made the maximum amount of effort to achieve his goal, that is, he did everything possible to obtain the desired result. At the same time, for example, the phrase "He worked on this project until the seventh sweat" does not always mean that the project was ultimately successful.
The use of this expression is found in the works of Russian classics of literature, for example, in Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin and Nikolai Ostrovsky. In colloquial speech, another variant of the ending of the noun in this expression is also allowed, which in this case acquires the sound "Until the seventh sweat". In addition, there are phrases that are quite close in meaning to the considered one: thanks to this, they can be used as its synonyms. For example, such phrases include "Until bloody sweat" or "In the sweat of your brow."
Origin of expression
The number seven in Russian folklore is used quite often as a tool for demonstrating a significant number of actions or objects. For example, this number appears in the sayings “Seven do not wait for one”, “Seven nannies have a child without an eye”, “Measure seven times, cut one off” and others. Thus, the "seventh sweat" in this expression is intended to demonstrate a high intensity of work.
But the versions about the causes of this seventh sweat, which formed the basis of the expression, differ significantly among various researchers in the field of linguistics. So, one of the versions of the origin of this phrase is associated not with hard physical work, but with tea drinking. So, the supporters of this version believe that in Russia long-term tea drinking with family and friends was widespread, during which the drink was very hot, due to which "seven sweats" came off its participants.
Another version is associated with the regime of work and rest adopted in Russia, which assumed that a standard week should consist of six working days, during each of which the employee managed to sweat thoroughly, and one day off. Thus, if an employee was forced to work on the seventh day, thus depriving him of the day off, he worked "until the seventh sweat."
