a hard row to hoe

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

A metaphor derived from hoeing corn, meaning a difficult matter or job to accomplish.


Gentlemen, I never opposd Andrew Jackson for the sake of popularity. I knew it was a hard row to hoe; but I stood up to the rack, considering it a duty I owed to the country that governed me.--Crockett's Speech, Tour down East, p. 69.

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