"Nose to the grindstone" means taking your responsibilities seriously; also working hard.
The grindstone stands for work.
Does it make any sense the way it looks? No, because why would someone hold their nose to a grindstone? This is an idiom because you can't figure out what it means just by reading it.
The phrase "nose to the grindstone" means working hard and diligently, often with focus and dedication towards a specific task or goal. It suggests staying committed and putting in a lot of effort to achieve success.
The most common phrase is "nose to the grindstone," as in "He really has his nose to the grindstone this week."
"Put his nose to the grindstone" is an idiomatic expression that means to work hard and diligently on a task or project, often with a focus on perseverance and dedication. The phrase evokes the image of someone intensely concentrating on their work, similar to how a craftsman would sharpen a tool against a grindstone. It suggests a commitment to achieving goals through consistent effort and hard work.
The saying "keep your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel" originated from an old proverb, promoting hard work and diligence. It emphasizes focusing on one's tasks (nose to the grindstone) and putting in physical effort (shoulder to the wheel) to achieve success.
It's "nose to the grindstone," forget the "close to" part.
La La's Full Court Life - 2011 Nose to the Grindstone 4-8 was released on: USA: September 2013
A grindstone is a round rough stone mounted on an axle that is used to polish or sharpen metal tools. Nowadays they are often driven by an electric motor.
To work very hard, to knuckle down to something,
"nose to the grindstone"
This is a European millers' guild expression to remind the miller that he must maintain a flow a grain between the mill stones, which were traditionally set one above the other. Without any grain between them, the weight of the top stone would strike sparks on the bed stone, and the smell, know as "brimstone" was a warning, that if not heeded, would likely result in an explosion that would kill the miller. Thus, to keep your nose to the grindstone meant to pay close attention, not to work hard, but diligently, and had nothing to do with sharpening tools on the other type of grindstone.