Dictionary definition of “rocking chair job”

rocking chair job

n. an occupation or employment that requires little work; a sinecure. Subjects: English, Employment

Editorial Note: The Dictionary of American Regional English includes the term rocking-chair money, ‘unemployment compensation or another benefit paid to someone who is not working.’ The first 2000 citation probably refers to a job with a great retirement plan.

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Citations: 1919 New York Times (Oct. 2) “Urge Pay Increase Before Aldermen” p. 36: One way to finance a rise in wages, he said, would be to get rid of secretaries to secretaries, rocking chair jobs and jobs that overlapped. 1925 Washington Post (Feb. 17) “Batting ‘Em Out in The Hot Stoveleague” p. 21: It will be no rocking-chair job for whoeever does the catching for the St. Louis Browns next season. 1934 Syracuse Herald (N.Y.) (Feb. 22) “Draft Dodger Bergdoll Denies Bribery in Escape” (in Philadelphia) p. 2: I could easily have bribed myself into a rocking chair job in the Army or Navy during the war and would have avoided al the trouble I had. 1951 Edwin Schallert Los Angeles Times (Oct. 7) “In Movie Field, Gene Kelly Proves A Quintuple Threat” p. D10: I could even welcome just a straight lead for a change, because that’s really a rocking-chair job. 1988 Joe Donnelly Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) (Oct. 12) “Meanwhile…A’s Wait Pitchers get in their cuts in workout” p. 138: Most people seem to think the American League manager has a rocking chair job. That’s ridiculous. A manager always has to make a decision on his pitcher. [2000 Jon Hahn Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Wash.) (Aug. 29) “You Can Thank Your Brothers And Sisters” p. E2: He got screwed by an employer who had promised him a golden-rocking-chair job. Ironically, that employer sold to another who already was unionized, and my father managed to work long enough to earn a meager pension.] 2000 Rudolph Daniels Trains Across the Continent (Dec. 1) 2 ed., p. 219: Rocking Chair. Retire on a pension. Rocking Chair Job. Working on a diesel switcher. 2005 Winston Ross Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.) (May 30) “Coastal Towns Seek Formula for Success”: A lot of timber workers referred to it as the “rocking chair” industry, because timber workers spent a lot of time on their porches in rocking chairs during the bust time.

Posted 1 Jun 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

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