#64950
04/13/2002 11:56 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
"Jobsworth" sounds like an excellent answer, probably better than the word that first occurred to me given the definition and its length of nine letters: "asskisser." It's not strictly correct, but probably it is what such a person would be labelled by his or her coworkers.
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#64951
04/13/2002 12:12 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
maverick: that link you posted to the Modern UK idiom was so funny it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so very much! It's only 9:00 AM and you made my day.
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#64952
04/13/2002 2:19 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
retentive
IP - This made my day!
CapK - Just how distant is "yonks ago"?
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#64953
04/15/2002 1:12 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Here's some synonyms we've discussed and at least one new one. The more I think about it, the more I think sycophant may be the word Jess will reveal to us:
[brown]or Entry Word: sycophant
Function: noun
Text: a base or servilely attentive flatterer and self-seeker <sycophants who slavishly curried favor with the king>
Synonyms apple-polisher, bootlick, bootlicker, ||brownnose, ||brownnoser, ||clawback, creature, ||easy rider, footlicker, groveler, lickspit, lickspittle, minion, reptile, spaniel, ||suck, toad, toadeater, toadier, toady, truckler, yes-man; PARASITE
Related Word flunky, gopher, lackey, slave, stooge; flatterer, self-seeker; snob, tuft-hunter [/brown] or
The above is from MW's synonym finder.
Bootlicking regards,
Wordwooing Ain't tuft-hunter grand?
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#64954
04/15/2002 1:16 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
the worthless word for the day (at some point in the indeterminate past was): tufthunter someone that seeks association with persons of title or high social status: snob; a toady [Brit] from tuft, a gold tassel formerly worn by titled undergraduates at Cambridge and Oxford http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/(just pluggin' away)
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#64955
04/16/2002 2:12 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Just moving this up so JessCC might see it and tell us what her teacher wanted her to find...
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#64956
04/16/2002 4:29 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
yeahbut® even if you don't like the sound of it, I'm still betting on jobsworth, since like most good quizes the answer lies within the text of the clue :)
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#64957
04/16/2002 5:04 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Dear maverick,
It's probably going to be jobsworth because Jess lives in Malaysia and this teacher is probably grounded in a British education....jobsworth's being British slang.
Still don't like the word jobsworth--and, if archaic words were ok, toadeater would still be my favorite, but, since they're not, sycophant would be the word I'd use in formal writing.
Best muleheadedness,
WordWon't
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#64958
04/16/2002 5:20 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
sure, but it carries little of the same meaning. The particular flourish of jobsworth is to suggest someone who is not sycophantic to a person but to an institution - that they have so far lost their sense of scale and human values they rather elevate the job byond the worth it serves.
Hence a popular UK TV show years back had a regular Jobsworth Award, which (iirc) mainly consisted of a massively braided cap, an ornate uniform, etc to denote someone who prizes the uniform above the task, the rules above the game...
in short, in the words of the original question "someone who always obeys the rules of his/her job exactly, even when it would be more sensible not to..."
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#64959
04/16/2002 5:47 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Dear maverick,
Point very well taken! You've now won me over with no argument to jobsworth. (Institution of the job over argument of person of the boss...makes perfectly good sense for the solution...)
How sweet is peace!
Wordwind
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#64960
04/16/2002 11:29 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
How sweet is peace
Peace and Honesty - fine plants in any garden!
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#64961
04/17/2002 1:23 AM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477 |
Point very well taken! ... How sweet is peace!
I've just witnessed a bee-uuu-tiful moment, here... Thank you both! 
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#64962
04/18/2002 4:20 PM
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 65
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 65 |
But I think you guys have to wait a few days more, because the answers won't come out so soon. But like I said, a promise is a promise, and I promised to post the answers up as soon as I get it! :o)
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#64963
04/18/2002 4:26 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I promised to post the answers up as soon as I get it! :o)
Is it Christmas yet? Is it Christmas yet? Is it Christmas yet? Huh, Mommy? Is it Christmas yet?
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#64964
04/26/2002 6:29 AM
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 65
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 65 |
It IS jobsworth! You guys were great! Thanks!
Jess
p.s. I might have a few questions up my sleeve again! Especially for the Americans, since their English differs slightly from the British!
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#64965
04/26/2002 8:54 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
It IS jobsworth! jess doin my job, m'am 
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#64966
04/26/2002 4:43 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Congratulations, Mav! And thanks, Jess, for putting my mind to rest. This, at least, won't be added to that long list of unanswered questions one drags around like sandbags as we move through the years.
Now: can we agree that it will be legal to play it in Scrabble?
Best replies,
WordWon
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#64967
04/26/2002 5:07 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
can we agree that it will be legal to play it in Scrabble?
Far as I'm concerned, for all the good that'll do ya.
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