"paper-pusher"

[Joanne M. Despres]

Sure thing, Jonathan.  I wasn't sure which sense you were after, so
I sent 'em both.

Glad to hear your friend does the honest kind of paper-pushing.
We do a lot of that here, too -- along with button-pushing (on the
computer keyboard, that is).

Joanne

On 20 Jun 2005, at 6:46, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Thanks, Joanne. The sense "passer of counterfeit money" is extremely rare ("paperhanger" is better known).
>
> By sheer coincidence, a friend of mine yesterday observed that "All that paper-pushing is gettin' the best of me." (He meant paperwork, of course.)
>
> JL
>
> "Joanne M. Despres" <jdespres at MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Joanne M. Despres"
> Subject: Re: "paper-pusher"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here are a couple; in the second cite, the term seems to mean
> something similar to "pencil pusher."
>
> PAPERHANGER. A professional who passes forged checks.
> Also _kid-glove worker_, _passer_, _paper-pusher_, _pusher_,
> _shover_, the last three terms being reserved for men who pass
> counterfeit money.
>
> by D.W. Maurer
> Univ. of Louisville
> American Speech
> December, 1941
> page 248
>
>
> In twenty minutes McCollum had drawn out the facts of Bert's
> epxerience in and out of school, and had determined to his own
> satisfaction that Bert would never be any good as a lawyer or in
> fact as any kind of a _paper-pusher_; . . .
>
> Walter V. Bingham
> Infantry Journal
> October, 1942
> Page 25
>
> On 18 Jun 2005, at 17:16, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> > Can anyone find a pre-1944 ex. "paper-pusher" and/or "paper-pushing"?
> >
> > JL
> >
>
> Joanne Despres
> Merriam-Webster
>
>
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