leg work
Pounding the pavement
Legwork is the practical, often tedious effort required to accomplish something—the running around, investigating, and gathering of information that precedes any real progress.
A detective does legwork by canvassing neighborhoods; a journalist does it by tracking down sources.
The term acknowledges that much valuable work involves literally being on one's feet, moving from place to place.
I've done all the legwork, now someone else can write the report.
- footworkSkilled lower-limb movement
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
- diligenceCareful, persistent effort
- canvassingSystematic direct voter outreach
- fieldworkResearch conducted on location
field research · effort · heavy lifting · fact-finding · gruntwork · reconnaissance · detective · door-to-door · door knocking · spadework · scouting · groundwork · research · background check · inquiry · surveying · probing · sleuthing
- Orgone TheoryWilhelm Reich, Reich, body armor, life energy, character analysis
- abilitiesstrength, agility, endurance, flexibility, dexterity
- synchronized movementsynchronized swimming, formation flying, murmuration, schooling, unison
leg workdesk work
Sedentary office labor
library research · literature review · data mining · googling · reading
leg workdelegation
Transferring responsibility downward
management · desk work · strategic planning · paperwork · theorizing
leg, work, legs, legged, leggy, legging, leggings, works, worked