What it means
To end up saddled with an unwanted job or burden you cannot get out of. The lumber is dead weight, useless timber cluttering the place, so to be lumbered with something is to be stuck carrying it whether you like it or not. Very British, and always said with a heavy sigh.
Usage examples
"I got lumbered with organizing the whole office party again, nobody else would so much as lift a finger."
"I got lumbered with the year-end report because nobody else volunteered to stay late on Friday."
"Don't pick up the phone in the next ten minutes or you'll get lumbered with the new client's tantrum."
Where it comes from
From the older English noun "lumber" (clutter, useless or cumbersome objects), itself from the medieval "Lombard" pawnshops where unredeemed goods piled up. To be "lumbered with" something is therefore to inherit useless weight, the literal junk in a back room or the figurative chore no one else would touch. Stamp of the British English office vocabulary since the mid-20th century, especially for last-minute Friday tasks.
Other ways to say it
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