Alternative idiom to "ploughing through something" that's more sad and struggling

Question

I thought that "to plough through" something means that you're going through a difficult time, feel down, but do your best to keep going. But when I looked it up, I find definitions like:

• to make slow progress through something difficult or boring, especially a book, a report, etc.
• to go through a substance or an area of something with difficulty
• If you plough through something such as a large meal or a long piece of work, you finally finish it although it takes a lot of effort.
• to finish something that takes a long time and is difficult or boring

I'm looking for an idiom that's similar, but expresses a bit more that one is currently going through a difficult period in life, is tired of it, feeling down about it, but does their best to move through it despite how they feel.

Answer 1

There's the similar expression slog through:

slog through

To work at or make progress through something at a sluggish, strenuous pace, especially for a long period of time.

• We had to slog through nearly a mile of swamp before we reached solid ground.
• I've been slogging through this really dense book about economic theory for my college course.

[Farlex Dictionary of Idioms]

'Slog' carries the sense of feeling the pressure involved, the need to persevere:

slog [verb]:

to work hard and steadily at something, especially something that takes a long time and is boring or difficult

[OALD]

slog - work doggedly or persistently;

• [cf] She keeps plugging [slogging] away at her dissertation

[Farlex]

And the intransitive multi-word verb slog on is available:

• Of course we shall sometimes feel lonely but we were never meant, grim-faced and tight-lipped, to slog on alone.

[Longman]

Answer 2

Tough it out captures the gist of the question nicely. The link below (The Free Dictionary) provides the definition and examples of the idiom.

tough it out

Answer 3

Trudge through.

To walk through some environment, substance, weather, etc., with heavy, laborious steps.

and

To progress through (some task or activity) at a slow, arduous pace.

Trudge through - the free dictionary

Answer 4

I might suggest "struggling on". E.g. "They were feeling low but struggled on". To me this evokes the difficulty of carrying on. Things like "ploughed through" evoke feelings of power and progress, which "struggling on" does not.

Other ideas could be

• struggling through
• wading through
• fighting through

Answer 5

Hanging on?

"How's it going?" "Just about hanging on".

The imagery is something like a tree branch over a raging torrent. Definitely implies struggling.

From the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon, the lines

Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way // the time has come, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.

"Hanging in there" is a variant which feels a bit American to this UK citizen.

Answer 6

You may consider soldier on:

To continue doing something with determination or resolve, despite difficulties or an unlikely chance of succeeding.
Though our funding was cut, we decided to soldier on with our work and try to finish the project on our own.
Even though they were down by an insurmountable number of goals, you have to admire how they just kept soldiering on.
_{Farlex Dictionary of Idioms}

Answer 7

I think I understand what is required.

I would have used 'wading through'. A well-used UK simile would be 'like wading through treacle'. US readers can substitute molasses for treacle. I have not been able to find a notable source for this phrase, but I suggest 'wading through' may cause many UK readers to think of treacle.

Some confusion seems to come from 'Plough through'. 'Plod through' or 'Slog through' give a sense of dreary labour, but 'plough through' could mean pursuing a headlong, reckless course, as in 'he ploughed through hedges and ditches, regardless'.

Answer 8

Plodding or barreling, though I think ploughing is somewhere in the middle, effort-wise. You could add willy-nilly.

The Wiktionary entry seems to confirm my slant on things. I wonder if plod and plough have contaminated each other:

"To persevere with an activity of consuming something, both literally and figuratively. I ploughed through two helpings, but then I didn't have room for any more. If you can plough through the first three chapters, then the plot starts to get interesting. To forcefully make a passage to move through. I managed to plough through the crowds and get to the information desk". Wiktionary: plough through

Some examples-

Where "plod through" suggests "with difficulty" or "struggle" - trudge would be a good synonym:

𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑛𝑜𝑤.

𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑡.

Where "plough through" suggests "uninhibited":

𝐹𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑐𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒.

and for "barreling through" suggesting "haphazardly":

𝑊𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡.

Answer 9

How about "I feel like if I keep banging my head against the wall my head is going to break before the wall does?"

Answer 10

I would suggest "going through the motions". The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as:

to do something without thinking it is very important or having much interest in it

They provide an example that fits your description:

After his wife died, he went through the motions of living without really feeling anything.