Buggins's turn en · NOUN
Etymology
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.
Meanings
-
(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.
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 I remembered your old saying "Some day the Empire will go down because it is Buggins's turn."'
He will be appointed on the principle of Buggins's turn.