swivel chair job
n.— «Other dilated sarcastically on the difference between a swivel chair job at the city hall and one which kept the holder thereof on his feet all day between counters or in factories under conditions calculated to endow the worker with sore feet, bunions, corns and rheumatism.» —“A Miracle of Re-Birth” Lincoln Evening News (Neb.) Jan. 2, 1911. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...