Did it, though? My 90 year old mother used it in the same way since her childhood. I think it’s always been sarcastic, probably from use by lowly soldiers. In the phrase, she pronounces and spells it as “gummint work” even though she would normally say “government.”
The sad part is that good enough for government work used to mean it was really good
Did it, though? My 90 year old mother used it in the same way since her childhood. I think it’s always been sarcastic, probably from use by lowly soldiers. In the phrase, she pronounces and spells it as “gummint work” even though she would normally say “government.”
Really? I’ve never heard it used that way, not even by old people. Maybe it evolved out of that usage a long time ago