jobsworth, n. Brit. colloq. (depreciative).
Brit. /ˈdʒɒbzwəːθ/, /ˈdʒɒbzwəθ/, U.S. /ˈdʒɑbzˌwərθ/
Forms: 19– job's worth, 19– jobsworth
[‹ job's worth in to be more than one's job's worth at job n.2 Phrases 13.
Popularized by the BBC consumer affairs television series That's Life (1973–94): see quot. 1982.]
A person in authority (esp. a minor official) who insists on adhering to rules and regulations or bureaucratic procedures even at the expense of common sense.
| 1970 Melody Maker 12 Sept. 29/4 If you are a taxi-driver, jobsworth or policeman, you will now be able to understand hippie lingo. 1982 Times 2 Oct. 19/1 That's Life. Consumer programme which includes the first contenders for the Jobsworth Award, given to the person who enforces the most stupid rule. 1987 Punch 20 May 47 Now we all know park-keepers—‘jobsworths’ to the man. (‘It's more than my job's worth to let you in here/play ball/walk on the grass/film my ducks.’). 1996 D. Brimson & E. Brimson Everywhere we Go xvii. 228 More efficient and helpful (happy) stewards and policemen would be a vast improvement on the jobsworths we currently find ourselves saddled with. 2002 Wanderlust Feb.–Mar. 65/1 Officials—jobsworths the lot of 'em, from four-forms-for-one-train-ticket bureaucrats to power-crazed border police. |