glutton for punishment, a

A person who continues to do things whose consequences they find difficult or unpleasant. I couldn't wait to finish college, but I soon found myself in grad school. I must be a glutton for punishment. Why does George keep getting detention? Is he a glutton for punishment?

Fig. someone who is eager for a burden or some sort of difficulty; someone willing to accept a difficult task. Tom works too hard. He is a glutton for punishment. I enjoy managing difficult projects, but I am a glutton for punishment.

Someone who habitually takes on burdensome or unpleasant tasks or unreasonable amounts of work. For example, Rose agreed to organize the church fair for the third year in a row-she's a glutton for punishment . This expression originated as a glutton for work in the late 1800s, punishment being substituted about a century later.

If someone is a glutton for punishment, they keep on doing something which most people would find unpleasant or difficult. As well as the early starts riding and late nights working, this glutton for punishment is also studying for a degree. I know it's a big job to take on, but then I've always been a glutton for punishment. Note: A glutton is a greedy person.

A masochist, a person who seeks out odious or onerous tasks, or habitually takes on more than is reasonable. The earliest version of this term was a glutton for work and dates from the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was used by Kipling in his story A Day’s Work (1895): “He’s honest, and a glutton for work.” Whether work is viewed as punishment or not is clearly up to the viewer. The OED, which cites a glutton for punishment only in 1971, makes no such judgment.