English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
To repair all these houses is (really) a ______.
I want a phrase/idiom/expression for the blank above which means a huge task, or huge work.
I want the idiom/phrase/expression to mean a task that is very difficult, needs a lot of attention, and a lot of work, and cannot be done fast and quick.
1: of, relating to, or characteristic of Hercules (Merriam-Webster)
...leading to figurative...
2: a herculean task
(often not capitalized)
of extraordinary power, extent, intensity, or difficulty
Hercules was incredibly strong, but he was assigned some incredibly difficult tasks - which you can google yourself if you're interested; you don't need to know the details to understand the idiomatic usage.
There's also (again, from Merriam-Webster)...
Sisyphean
of, relating to, or suggestive of the labors of Sisyphus
specifically requiring continual and often ineffective effort
a Sisyphean task
Where Sisyphus was assigned a task that was effectively impossible [to complete]. And if you don't want usages derived from Greek myths, we Brits can now use painting the Forth Bridge (for a "never-ending" task; by the time you've painted it all the way from one end to the other, the end you started at needs repainting).
Long haul is an idiomatic expression used for a lengthy and difficult task/effort/work/process.
A prolonged and difficult effort or task. - Lexico
If you say that a task or a journey is a long haul, you mean that it takes a long time and a lot of effort. - Collins
Ordeal is used colloquially as a hyperbole.
A very unpleasant and prolonged experience. - Lexico
To repair all these houses is an ordeal.
Ball-breaker (also ball-buster) is a US slang word that you can consider also.
A demanding and punishing task or situation. - Lexico
A difficult, boring, or exasperating job, problem, or situation. - OED
You can't believe what I've been through. And then today, a real ball-breaker.
something that is difficult to do or deal with.
Example: I am considering becoming a doctor, but I know that it's a tough row to hoe.
According to Dictionary - gargantuan:
a gargantuan task
gigantic; enormous; colossal
