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meaning - What does 'two-bit paper pusher' mean?


I often find a joke titled, ‘When a grandma goes to court’ followed by the line, ‘Lawyers should never ask a question if they aren’t prepared for the answer.’


I don’t know if it’s a popular joke or not. It deals with an elderly woman called to the stand as the first witness. She knows everything about the background and secrets of both prosecuting and defense attorneys.


Realizing that she knows too much, the judge asks both attorneys to come to the bench and tells, “If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I’ll send you both to the electric chair.”


In this joke, the old woman says to the prosecuting attorney, "You think you are some big shot on the rise, but you don't have the brains to realize you are nothing more than a 'two-bit paper pusher.' Yes sir, I know you!"


What does “two-bit paper pusher” mean?



Answer



It means that she considers the attorney to be an unimportant clerk rather than an important lawyer


Two bit: small change (ie cheap/unimportant, in this context)-


According to WikiPedia A bit is :



The word bit is a colloquial expression referring to specific coins in various coinages throughout the world.
"Two bits" or "two bit" continues in general use as a colloquial expression, primarily because of the song catchphrase "Shave and a Haircut, two bits." As an adjective, "two-bit" can be used to describe something cheap or unworthy.



Paper pusher: someone who does nothing but push paper around on a desk or delivers paper from one office to another in a push cart


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