short timer
1
7.2
- noun
- US
:
trabajador temporal
- Many short timers join companies temporarily to gain experience before moving on.
Examples
-
The second hitter was a short-timer who'd been supposedly transferred in from another lockup, a dark man with a lot of thick hair and a beard.
Fiction book (1991) -
He's just a short timer at the company, finishing his last month before retiring.
-
As a short timer, she focused on wrapping up her projects before her departure.
Synonyms
9
2.8
A person who does a job for only a short time
2
5.3
A person who works at a job for a short time
How Near
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'short' (brief) gives a clear cue about limited time, but 'timer' in its literal sense is someone or something that measures time, not normally a label for a person who has only a little time left. The phrase is jargonal (short-timer/short timer) whose meaning can be guessed by composing the parts but requires a pragmatic shift in the sense of 'timer' and some exposure, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Short timer comes from soldiers who counted down the days until they went home; someone with only a short time left was called a timer. Because they had little time left, they often avoided new tasks and made plans to leave, so the phrase means 'a person who is nearing the end of their period of employment, service, or commitment'.