Origins of "No Mean Task"

Posted by R. Berg July 12, 2001In reply to Origins of "No Mean Task" posted by Brian Murphy on July 12, 2001

Anyone know the origins/derivation of this phrase?

Is it suppose to represent no mean (i.e. average) task?

This phrase uses a different sense of "mean," the sense that has to do with baseness or lowness. "That's no mean task" = the task is not trivial, not easy, not beneath a person's capabilities. The task is difficult.