box checker

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A person who follows instructions to the letter and avoids taking any risks.

   • Unfortunately, appearing to just be a box-checker is a very common occurrence in today's fire service, and this results in a number of candidates actually failing an event, particularly the emergency simulation exercise.
   • For the box checker, reorientation is seen as overreach. For the box checker, originality is seen not looking before leaping.
   • Jane had pegged her for a box-checker who didn't give a twit about what she was actually doing.
2. 2

   A person who strives to live up to the expectations of others

   A person who strives to live up to the expectations of others; a person who follows the rules and strives to achieve the conventional definition of success.

   • Sometimes we feel like we have to be the box-checkers of our lives. We make a list, and we don't stop until we check off every box. We strive for perfection.
   • I was a box checker, marching to the beat of effort/result, effort/result.
   • I have found that there are two categories of students who get ahead—those who I call the box checkers and those who learn quickly and well.
3. 3

   One whose job consists primarily of administrative work indicating tasks that have been…

   One whose job consists primarily of administrative work indicating tasks that have been completed.

   • Then the box checker would say, " Yep, has a Schedule B," and by the time somebody read it, they'd understand there was nothing in it.
4. ›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Someone who is counted in an organization as representing a minority ethnic group but who…

      Someone who is counted in an organization as representing a minority ethnic group but who is so assimilated into the dominant culture that their ethnic status becomes meaningless.

      • She called Ottinger a "tool" of the business community and Lopez a "box checker,” apparently meaning that he was only nominally Latino and that he had acted in a way that was detrimental to the interests of Latinos.
   2. 5

      Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

      Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see box, checker. Someone or something that checks boxes.

      • Well, there I was, at age thirty-two, an official box-checker. DIVORCED. Don't believe me? Look at the box.

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