A metaphorical reference to hack writers, journalists, or second-rate authors; the world of mediocre or purely commercial writing.
From Grub Street, an actual street in London (now Milton Street) where poor writers and journalists lived and worked in the 18th century. Jonathan Swift popularized the term in satirical works.
Grub Street is real history made metaphor—there actually was a poor street in London where struggling writers lived, and writers themselves immortalized it as a symbol of hack writing, creating a word that's lasted 300 years!
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