I’m back to the grindstone

On the television series, Gold Rush, a gold miner wasn’t having success capturing gold and made some changes to his wash plant. His quote was “I’m back to the grindstone”. This is a mashup of “back to the drawing board” (back to the beginning of a process to start it again) and “nose to the grindstone” (work hard and constantly). Mike Ameel heard this one, as well as another grindstone malaphor posted last year: “He keeps his head to the grindstone”. https://malaphors.com/2025/06/16/he-just-keeps-his-head-to-the-grindstone/ That one was a contender for Malaphor of the Year. Mike’s double play on “grindstone” is very much appreciated here at Malaphor Central. Thanks Mike! Mike also mentioned that the Gold Rush malaphor is the name of a Ronnie Milsap song released in 1991 – “Back to the Grindstone”. Who knew?