Defamatory expression for a devious
domestic or
other employee, also called an
eye-waiter from the
1500s to the
1830s, who was too
lazy to efficiently perform duties except when "
within eyeshot" of his or her
master - a form of insincerity known as "eye-service." One
medieval explanation for this
phenomenon was that servants were stricken with
idle worms, tiny
worms believed to grow and
multiply on their fingers when they were not busy.
Forgotten English
copyright 1997 Jeffrey Kacirk