postman’s holiday
n.— «He is still busy with his life work, which is the promotion of American shipping. He does take a vacation now and then, but it is like the postman’s holiday. He takes it on a ship.» —“Dean of Shipping” San Mateo Times and Daily News Leader (California) Aug. 31, 1928. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...
In a sweaty letter to a friend while vacationing on the island of Elba, poet Dylan Thomas wrote colorfully and expressively about a terrible heat wave, complaining that, among other things, “My brains are hanging out like a dog’s tongue...