A facsimile of a manager who mindlessly follows orders from upper management regardless of how ridiculous, arbitrary, contradictory, or counterproductive they may be. If an employee attempts to point out the flaws in one of an MD’s painfully short-sighted and dim-witted decisions, an MD will either continuously repeat one of their several pre-programmed phrases until the employee gives up on the argument, or they will respond with only a blank stare that seems to say “error, file not found.” To say that a MD is a puppet is to insult the freethinking and decision-making abilities of a puppet. MD's have absolutely no job-related skills or people skills. They are often seen wandering aimlessly among employees and customers. If asked for help, they will automatically find the nearest employee and make them help the customer so as to appear preoccupied and attempt to conceal their monumental incompetence. Many times MD's will turn to employees for help with things that should in fact be required of management to know. They will also sometimes steal ideas of employees and make them their own usually after telling the employees the ideas were not feasible. They are the source of all miscommunication, stress, failures, and negativity in the workplace, yet are never fired. MD's can be found in nearly every major corporation and, like roaches, will probably never be totally eradicated. Not to be confused with actual (good) managers.

Noun: a friend who is usually only called upon by a friend when a more primary/prominent friend is unavailable.

Taken from the term “second string” in an athletic competition situation. In football, if the star quarterback gets injured during a play, the second string is called off the bench to replace him/her. A “Second String Friend” is essentially benched until needed, if ever.

Synonyms: Plan B, Second Choice, Secondary Friend, Benched Until Needed