cushy number

English

WOTD – 10 May 2021

Etymology

From cushy (“making few demands, comfortable, easy”) +‎ number (“activity, assignment, job”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkʊʃi ˈnʌmbə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌkʊʃi ˈnʌmbɚ/
• Rhymes: -ʌmbə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: cu‧shy num‧ber

Noun

cushy number (plural cushy numbers)

1. (British, informal) A job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding; a sinecure.

   Synonyms: soft snap, soft thing

   • 2018 May 16, John Crace, “Corbyn finds the formula to fire up the Maybot. Just ask after Brexit”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     At this rate Wednesdays [PMQs] could become a cushy number for the Labour leader.

   • 2019 August 6, Aditya Chakrabortty, “The super-rich have made Britain into a nation of losers”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     And they knew who the winners were: those refugees on the other side of the city; the next-door neighbour who’d got a cushy number on benefits.

   • 2021 October 17, Kitty Empire, “The Storyteller by Dave Grohl – a Foo Fighter pulls his punches”, in The Observer‎^[3], →ISSN:

     The band’s ascent is exciting and bewildering – until it isn’t. When Nirvana ends, he turns down a cushy number playing drums for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to record Foo Fighters’ terrific debut album in a makeshift home studio, playing every instrument himself.

Translations

job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding

• Finnish: helppo homma, helppo työ, helppo duuni
• French: boulot peinard m, boulot pépère m, planque (fr) f, sinécure (fr) f
• Polish: ciepła posadka f