Throttlebottom

American  

[throt-l-bot-uhm] / ˈθrɒt lˌbɒt əm /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. a harmless incompetent in public office.

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Etymology

Origin of Throttlebottom

After Alexander Throttlebottom, character in Of Thee I Sing (1932), musical comedy by George S. Kaufman ( def. ) and Morrie Ryskind (1895–1985), American dramatist, lyricist, and writer

Example Sentences

"He may be viewed as a kind of Ivy League Throttlebottom," declared a wary admirer, "but he is formidable -- and absolutely necessary."

From Time Magazine Archive

Quayle, who often seemed as lost as an actor missing half the pages of his script, struggled to overcome his own Throttlebottom image -- and lost.

From Time Magazine Archive

Toward the end of his life�he died in 1969�it began to seem that Dirksen's most interesting achievement was himself: a rumpled travesty of Throttlebottom, Pekin, Ill., Polonius wreathed in consciously self-mocking fustian, a man at once shamelessly sentimental and uncommonly shrewd.

From Time Magazine Archive

Funny as Victor Moore was as Throttlebottom, he is funnier still as "Moonface" Mooney, Public Enemy No. 13.

From Time Magazine Archive

As Vice President Throttlebottom tells the Senators: "Gentlemen, this country has never yet impeached an expectant father."

From Time Magazine Archive