little Eichmann
- noun
- Offensive
:
pequeño Eichmann
- For a chemist to write about "little Eichmanns" who invited their own destruction in the World Trade Center would demonstrate no more incompetence in his or her own discipline than did Professor William Shockley's deeply troubling statements on race and intelligence.
He called some of the victims quote little Eichmann's, comparing them to a Nazi war criminal, a claim on which I once got the chance to challenge Professor Churchill.
- He called some of the victims quote little Eichmann's, comparing them to a Nazi war criminal, a claim on which I once got the chance to challenge Professor Churchill.
Examples
-
But neither CU nor KU appears to have challenged its controversial professor's faculty status by raising the issue of his professional competence, at least on the basis of what had been said publicly about "fundies" or "little Eichmanns."
Academic text (2006) -
One must do more than disparage "fundies" and "Little Eichmanns" to forfeit a tenured professorship.
Academic text (2006) -
Like all the little Eichmanns with clean hands:
Blog text (26) -
Churchill referred to some of the victims in lower Manhattan as "Little Eichmanns," suggesting that they somehow deserved their dreadful fate since they "formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire."
Academic text (2006) -
The journalist criticized the bureaucrats as little Eichmanns for following orders that led to injustice.
-
In her speech, she warned against becoming little Eichmanns who blindly obey authority without questioning the consequences.
-
The documentary highlighted how some employees acted as little Eichmanns, enforcing policies that harmed vulnerable communities.
Synonyms
5
9.9
A person who works for a political party or large organization and follows orders without question
Antonyms
How Unethical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The structure 'little' + proper name signals a diminutive/pejorative likeness (i.e. a person resembling Eichmann in attitude), so the compositional pattern is partially predictable. However, understanding the intended meaning (blind, bureaucratic obedience with moral culpability) depends on cultural/historical knowledge of Adolf Eichmann; without that background a B1 learner who only knows the literal words would not reliably derive the sense.
Etymology
Little Eichmann comes from Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi official who said he was 'just following orders' while helping carry out terrible crimes. Calling someone a little Eichmann paints the image of a person who obeys rules without thinking about right or wrong, so it is used for 'a person who follows orders blindly and without moral reflection'.