Mickey Mouse job
- noun
- /ˈmɪki maʊs dʒɑb/
- UK
:
trabajo trivial
- My boss gave me another Mickey Mouse job to keep me busy while the real project was delayed.
Examples
-
She left the company because she was tired of doing Mickey Mouse jobs instead of meaningful work.
-
This report is just a Mickey Mouse job.
-
He complained that filing those old papers was just a Mickey Mouse job.
-
He was assigned a Mickey Mouse job at the office.
-
My boss gave me another Mickey Mouse job to keep me busy while the real project was delayed.
-
He complained that filing those old papers was just a Mickey Mouse job.
-
She left the company because she was tired of doing Mickey Mouse jobs instead of meaningful work.
Synonyms
3
6.3
Tasks that keep you busy but have little real value
3
8.1
Simple unpleasant tasks that no one wants to do
1
9.9
A job that feels pointless and gives no real value
1
9.9
Unpleasant small jobs that no one wants to do
Work done badly that gives bad results
An unimportant event that people do not take seriously
A low-paid job that is boring and gives no chance to move up
Antonyms
How Competent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The evaluative meaning comes from the fixed culturalized phrase 'Mickey Mouse' (meaning trivial, amateurish, or shoddy) rather than a predictable combination of 'mouse' + 'job'. A B1 learner who knows 'mouse' and 'job' but not the idiomatic use of 'Mickey Mouse' would not reliably infer 'unimportant or badly executed task', so the expression is not compositional.
Etymology
The phrase Mickey Mouse job may come from the famous cartoon character Mickey Mouse, whose name was used to mean something 'childish' or 'not serious'. So a Mickey Mouse job is 'small', 'unimportant', or 'badly done'.