The expression On The Treadmill relates to Victorian hard labour, specifically a form that Oscar Wilde was subjected to during his prison sentence in the late 1800s. It is now used to describe exhausting, never-ending work – work that is usually without even acknowledgement. In the 19th century, a treadmill was a primitive version of modern-day gym step machines. It consisted of a row of evenly spaced planks joined at each end by a big round cog. Oscar and his fellow prisoners were made to walk the treadmill all day long, something akin to walking up an endless staircase – but without actually leaving the bottom step. Wilde later wrote that, “If this is the way the Queen treats her prisoners, she doesn't deserve to have any”.