Dictionary

like kicking dead whales down the beach en · ADP

Etymology

Originating in computer programming jargon.

Meanings

1. (of a task, qualifier:simile; process; simile; process, slang, usually) Very slow and difficult.
   • “How’s it going?” I asked. ¶ “Swimmingly, man. Like kicking dead whales down the beach.” 1998 April, Mark Fabi, “Wall Street Walpurgisnacht” (chapter 3), in Wyrm, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 65:
   • I have a full backup, but restoring 213 MB of data from one oppy to another with a single drive, even using dd and big packets, is going to be like kicking dead whales down the beach. Is there an easier way? 1993 September 16, Joshua W. Burton, “OD has no more alternates for remap -- should I worry?”, in comp.sys.next.hardware (Usenet):

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