E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Barnacles.
Placemen who stick to their offices but do little work, like the barnacles which live on the ship but impede its progress.
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“The redundants would be ‘Barnacles’ with a vengeance … and the work be all the worse done for these hangers-on.”—Nineteenth Century (August, 1888, p. 280).
