Word.ws English Dictionary

Buggins's turn

Buggins's turn noun: a humorous, disparaging term for the appointment of a person by rotation or promotion, on the basis of length of service (it being that person's "turn") rather than merit or level of qualification.

Noun

Buggins's turn

  1. (UK, idiomatic) A humorous, disparaging term for the appointment of a person by rotation or promotion, on the basis of length of service (it being that person's "turn") rather than merit or level of qualification.
    • He will be appointed on the principle of Buggins's turn.
    • I remembered your old saying "Some day the Empire will go down because it is Buggins's turn."'1919, Memories, John Fisher (reprinting a 1917 letter to him from an unnamed Privy Councillor) http://www.archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/38/mode/2up

Origin of Buggins's turn

Earliest recorded use is by Admiral Fisher, later First Sea Lord, in a 1901 letter. 'Buggins' is a humorous invented surname, suggestive of a man of mediocre ability.

Questions about Buggins's turn

What does Buggins's turn mean?
Buggins's turn means a humorous, disparaging term for the appointment of a person by rotation or promotion, on the basis of length of service (it being that person's "turn") rather than merit or level of qualification.
What part of speech is Buggins's turn?
Buggins's turn is a noun.

Words near Buggins's turn in the dictionary

  1. bugging off
  2. bugging out
  3. bugging up
  4. buggings
  5. Buggins
  6. Buggins's turn
  7. buggish
  8. Buggs
  9. buggy
  10. buggy whip
  11. buggy whips

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Buggins's turn (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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