The tail of the dog — a cynosure;
The curate’s post — a sinecure;
And I can never keep them straight,
Both faintly rattling and obscure.
With similar sounds, they’re both “a leader,”
Guide of careerists, and star of the cheater —
A high position with sloth embedded,
Alike nice work if you can get it.
Cynosure – (Pronounced SI-nə-shur, rhymes with “sigh” and “sure”) A focal point of attention or admiration, something that serves to guide, a “guiding star”; from the Latin cynosura, the constellation Ursa Minor, also the North Star; from the Greek kynosoura from kynos oura, “dog’s tail.”
Sinecure – (Pronounced SI-nə-kyur, rhymes with “sigh” and “cure”) A position that pays but requires little or no work; from Latin sine cura “without cure of souls,” a church office with income but without the responsibilities of a priest for his congregation.
Nice work if you can get it – An idiom meaning an easy well-paid job that someone may have gotten using connections.