day in, day out

D

day in, day out

Meaning

• every day, without respite.
• daily, without fail.
• regularly; constantly; routinely; incessantly.
• happening daily for a long time.
• over and over again.
• all the time.

Examples in Sentences

1. They had to endure the city’s dirt and noise day in, day out. 
2. I’ve had enough of the same routine, day in and day out. I will take a long vacation.
3. We have to feed our bodies day in, day out.
4. He takes his dog for a walk day in, day out.
5. Dad started driving us to school since we used to miss the bus day in, day out. 
6. The mentally ill woman wore the same clothes day in, day out for years. 
7. I drink tea day in, day out. 
8. It’s boring to work day in, day out as a lifeguard.
9. For the last week, it has been raining day in, day out.
10. My secretary is outgoing and cheerful day in, day out, which makes the work environment pleasant.
11. Life feels too boring when you go to office for work day in, day out.

Origin

People have used the idiom “day in, day out” since the early 1800s, often to express boredom from doing a certain thing daily over a long time. It is also used to express disbelief. This phrase was defined in W. Carr’s Dialect Book, published in 1828. In an autobiography titled The Buried Day (1960), C. Day Lewis used it to describe his school days. He wrote that his schoolmates jeered at, kicked around, or ostracized a certain boy day in, day out for several years. By that time, the idiom was already a cliché.

Days, Time