тянуть лямку

разг.

lit. pull a strap; cf. toil and moil; bear the burden; lead a life of drudgery; drudge along in the dreary routine; grin and bear it; stick to a routine job; be sticking it out; be slogging away at the job

Отец его, боевой генерал 1812 года, полуграмотный, грубый, но не злой русский человек, всю жизнь свою тянул лямку. (И. Тургенев, Отцы и дети) — His father, a general in the army, who had served in 1812, a crude, almost illiterate, but good-natured type of Russian, had stuck to a routine job all his life.

- Если верить уборщицам, то я, конечно, разгуливаю. Если же смотреть правде в глаза, то я не разгуливаю, а тяну лямку. (В. Кочетов, Журбины) — 'If one listens to office cleaners, I am, of course, gallivanting around. If one faces the truth, however, I'm not gallivanting around, I'm just sticking it out.'

Сказали: "Становись, Матвей, председателем. Больше некому". Стал. И как-то втянулся в это дело, и к нему тоже привыкли, так до сих пор и тянет эту лямку. (В. Шукшин, Думы) — Then it was 'You've got to be chairman, Matvei, there's no one else'. So he had become chairman of the farm. And somehow he had got into the way of it and people had got used to him too, so here he was, still slogging away at the job.