What does jack-in-office mean?
Jack-in-office means (derogatory) A self-important but minor official..
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Pronunciation varies by accent · noun
(derogatory) A self-important but minor official..
1967, C. P. Snow, foreword to A Mathematician's Apology, G. H. Hardy, 1948. Chapel at Trinity was compulsory. Hardy told the Dean, …, that he could not conscientiously attend. The Dean, who must have been a jack-in-office, insisted that Hardy should write to his parents and tell them so.
But a man gifted with original thoughts and the power of expressing them, appears to be regarded by everyone in authority as much worse than the worst criminal, and all the 'jacks-in-office' unite to kick him to death if they can.
For ordinary purposes I generally describe myself as a rent-collector, but that is because official Jacks-in-office seem to have a morbid suspicion of anyone who is obviously not a millionaire calling himself independent.
Use jack-in-office when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Jack-in-office means (derogatory) A self-important but minor official..
Common synonyms include jack guardant, petty functionary.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
1967, C. P. Snow, foreword to A Mathematician's Apology, G. H. Hardy, 1948. Chapel at Trinity was compulsory. Hardy told the Dean, …, that he could not conscientiously attend. The Dean, who must have been a jack-in-office, insisted that Hardy should write to his parents and tell them so.
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