to do the hard boring part of a job:
Why should I do all the donkey work while you sit around doing nothing?
Donkey's years
Meaning
A very long time.
Origin
A query at the Phrases and Sayings Discussion Forum asked if the British slang term for 'a very long time' was donkey's years or donkey's ears. My first thoughts were, "donkey's years of course - what would ears have to do with it?". It turns out that I was being rather hasty. Donkey's years is now the more commonly used slang term when meaning 'a long time', but donkey's ears, although used little in recent years, has been a jokey alternative for some time - certainly from the early 20th century, viz. E. V. Lucas' Vermilion Box, 1916:
"Now for my first bath for what the men call 'Donkey's ears', meaning years and years."
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