(aw-JEE-uhn) (adj.)
1. Abominably filthy from long neglect 2. Extremely difficult and unpleasant

You remember Hercules and his twelve labors. One of them involved the stables where King Augeas kept 3000 oxen. Today we'd probably call out both the Health Department and the Humane Society to deal with Augeas, considering that for 30 years, he neglected to have anyone clean his stables.

That nasty task was finally accomplished by Hercules, who diverted an entire river through them to sweep them clean. Thus "Augean" has come to describe anything similarly filthy, or an unpleasant job requiring Herculean effort.

"Whoever is really serious about tackling campaign finance reform should be ready to face an Augean task."