sidewalk superintendent
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sidewalk superintendent
slang Someone who observes a construction or demolition job with great interest from a vantage point outside of the job site, such as the sidewalk. There was a whole crowd of sidewalk superintendents gathered around to see the historic theater being leveled to the ground. Apparently I was quite the sidewalk superintendent as a child, spending hours watching construction crews go about their business.
See also: sidewalk
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
sidewalk superintendent
1. n. someone who—out of curiosity—watches excavations being dug and buildings being built. All day, the lines of sidewalk superintendents oozed by.
2. n. any critic. If another sidewalk superintendent comes in here and tries to tell me how to manage this office, heads will roll.
See also: sidewalk
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.