yak shaving

The tedious tasks that must be done before productive work can begin, "yak shaving" may also refer to useless activity one engages in to avoid real work.

The term originate around the year 2000 at MIT by way of "Yak Shaving Day" an early-1990s segment from the animated series,

Ren & Stimpy

NetLingo Classification: Online Jargon

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