Expressions for petty authoritarians
October 23, 2022 11:22 PM Subscribe
I am after expressions or slang terms for very junior people who, when given small amounts of power or recognition in organisations, let that go to their heads.
Rimmer in Red Dwarf is the example of the thing I mean—ridiculous not horrible. How do soldiers refer to their corporals, or others in those relationships of petty power?
Rimmer in Red Dwarf is the example of the thing I mean—ridiculous not horrible. How do soldiers refer to their corporals, or others in those relationships of petty power?
Microtyrant
posted by june_dodecahedron at 11:36 PM on October 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by june_dodecahedron at 11:36 PM on October 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
I was also led to tin god, which was completely new to me.
posted by protorp at 12:49 AM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by protorp at 12:49 AM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
apparatchik, penpusher, pettyfogger, pipsqueek
posted by rongorongo at 1:29 AM on October 24, 2022
posted by rongorongo at 1:29 AM on October 24, 2022
Are you an old timey British person? Tin-pot dictator is a solid choice if so.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:38 AM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:38 AM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hall monitor. (Guessing fairly US-specific.)
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 5:10 AM on October 24, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 5:10 AM on October 24, 2022 [9 favorites]
tiny tyrant
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:22 AM on October 24, 2022
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:22 AM on October 24, 2022
I call them Dwight Schrutes
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:28 AM on October 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:28 AM on October 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
In Quebec, they have this expression, "boss des bécosses", which translates as backhouse (or outhouse) boss.
posted by bluefrog at 5:41 AM on October 24, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by bluefrog at 5:41 AM on October 24, 2022 [12 favorites]
My dad and grandfather always called people like that Little Napoleons.
I call them Dwight Schrutes
That is perfect, I will start thinking of them that way.
“I did not become a Lackawanna County volunteer sheriff’s deputy to make friends. And by the way, I haven’t.”
posted by fortitude25 at 5:55 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
I call them Dwight Schrutes
That is perfect, I will start thinking of them that way.
“I did not become a Lackawanna County volunteer sheriff’s deputy to make friends. And by the way, I haven’t.”
posted by fortitude25 at 5:55 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
In German, there’s Radfahrer (bicyclist), someone who bows to those above and kicks those below (nach oben buckeln, nach unten treten). And the whole notion is Radfahrerprinzip.
posted by meijusa at 6:17 AM on October 24, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by meijusa at 6:17 AM on October 24, 2022 [8 favorites]
I was coming here to say "martinet" and to raise an annoyed eyebrow at the terms that focus on the person not being sufficiently tall to make their authoritarianism the kind we like and take seriously.
posted by less-of-course at 7:55 AM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by less-of-course at 7:55 AM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Jack-in-office, or as Shakespeare says in Coriolanus, Jack guardant ('you shall perceive that a Jack guardant cannot office me from my son').
posted by verstegan at 8:31 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by verstegan at 8:31 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think of them as King of the Hill (from the game, not the cartoon).
posted by Comet Bug at 11:07 AM on October 24, 2022
posted by Comet Bug at 11:07 AM on October 24, 2022
Glasgow slang has “snomajobtae” (/snow-mah-job-tay/), literally “It's not my job to …”
posted by scruss at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2022
posted by scruss at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2022
hmm I always thought this was a tin pot dictator but looking it up now I see I may have been using it wrong
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:38 PM on October 24, 2022
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:38 PM on October 24, 2022
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Jobsworth
posted by caek at 11:28 PM on October 23, 2022