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Definition of parish-pump in English:

parish-pump

Pronunciation /ˈperiSH pəmp/ /ˈpɛrɪʃ pəmp/

See synonyms for parish-pump

adjective

British attributive

  • Of local importance or interest only; parochial.

    ‘I looked down on parish-pump politics’
    • ‘The obvious differences are that the local commercial news is more concerned with local, parochial, parish-pump, ambulance chasing, fire-engine chasing-type stories, than we are.’
    • ‘The rude phrase for it is parish-pump politics, but a kinder way of looking at it is that it's a way of doing business that preserves the element of human relations in bureaucratic transactions.’
    • ‘However, Mr Kelleher yesterday accused Mr Noonan of doublespeak and parish-pump politics by urging the State to cover Limerick City Council's potential €50m liability.’
    • ‘That is a classic example of the return to parish-pump politics, which we got rid of years ago.’
    • ‘These (no doubt costly) reports amount to over 100 pages of big words indicating a national problem, followed by a plethora of piecemeal solutions, smacking of parish-pump politics.’
    • ‘‘Hmm, not sure about that,’ said the parish-pump politicians of the general committee, led by the controversial Glanmor Griffiths.’
    • ‘The American Revolution, being both a religiously-derived movement and a parish-pump revolt against ‘taxation without representation’ had different effects.’
    • ‘Perhaps on the backbenches, Mr Walsh might reflect his failure to rise above the station of a parish-pump politician while passing up numerous opportunities to be a statesman.’
    • ‘In Germany parish-pump politicians depicted socialists, Junkers (the aristocracy), and Jews as enemies of the peasantry.’
    • ‘These have ranged from tax reform to parish-pump matters like public transport issues in his seat of Wentworth.’
    • ‘They are parish-pump politicians with a very poor track record of doing deals or delivering the goods.’
    • ‘Instead of advocating proven free-market solutions to WA's problems, he's confirmed his image as a parish-pump opponent of competitive reform.’
    provincial, unsophisticated, small-town, parochial, parish-pump, insular, inward-looking, limited, blinkered, bourgeois, middle-class, conservative, petty, close-minded, myopic, introverted, illiberal, hidebound, intolerant
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