jobsworth
nounEtymology
A compound of job + -s- + worth, derived from the phrase “It’s more than me job’s worth” or “... my job’s worth” as used in denial of a request by a functionary, chiefly popularized by Jeremy Taylor's 1973 song “Jobsworth” and the 1973–1994 BBC television series That’s Life! which focused on consumer affairs and gave a “Jobsworth of the Week” award to “a startling tale of going by the book”.
Definitions
A person who upholds trivial rules unnecessarily and obstructively in order to exercise…
A person who upholds trivial rules unnecessarily and obstructively in order to exercise their (typically minor) authority.
- The usual council jobsworths came down to tell them to stop playing football.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for jobsworth. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA