quill-driver
noun1
Colloquial A clerk or hack writer; a pen-pusher.
- His brother, enraged at this insult, spoke to him very freely, which he returned no otherwise than by calling him quill-driver, and maccaroni of Mincing-lane.1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina, Broadview, published 2004, page 263:
- Passenger.—What o'clock is it? Mr. Adams.—That's not proper language for a ship. It becomes only a quill-driver, a grass-comber, or a sugar-baker.1803, John Davis, Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America: During 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802, page 439:
1 more example
- He wouldn't be terrified with a pack of lies by a cocky half-bred little quill-driver.1900, Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, page v. 36: