being at the plague

Verb

be at the plague (third-person singular simple present is at the plague, present participle being at the plague, simple past was at the plague, past participle been at the plague)

1. (idiomatic, obsolete) To be bothered; to make the effort to do something.
   • One of a hundred a year, or so, is all I wish:—I would not be at the plague of paying land-tax for a larger.1748, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random