Noun + 待ち: pattern or not pattern?

[sergiop]

I was trying to understand this WK context sentence,

指示を無視するのはよくありませんが、指示待ち族にはなってもらいたくはありません。私の言っている意味が分かりますか？

and accordingly to weblio:

指示待ち

Awaiting instructions

1. I was wondering if this is a pattern: noun + 待ち = waiting for noun… or if this is a one-off case.

2. WK and also DeepL translate 族 as “person” but then I don’t understand why 人 wasn’t used here instead of 族 . Perhaps, 族 also conveys the meaning the it is a person who is also related (by family ties) to the speaker? If this is the case, then WK’s translation is lacking.

[seanblue]

One definition in Goo is:

待つこと。待っている状態。

And it gives the following example:

信号待ち

Also, for what it’s worth, jisho says it can be used as a suffix meaning “waiting” or “waiting time”, which lines up with the Japanese definition.

So it seems to be somewhat generalized to me.

[Saida]

When I google image searched 待ち, I got a bunch of Majongg pictures, seems like several terms there end in ～待ち. I also got 地獄待ち、レジ待ち、順番待ちシステム、信号待ち so it seems like it is a thing.

@sergiop

If this is the case, then WK’s translation is lacking.

What is the WK translation, anyway?

I find 族 to mean an abbreviation of 暴走族, according to weblio. And in that case, I guess it could either refer to he whole gang, or an individual.

[sergiop]

@Saida

What is the WK translation, anyway?

指示を無視するのはよくありませんが、指示待ち族にはなってもらいたくはありません。私の言っている意味が分かりますか？

Ignoring orders is not good, but I don’t want you to be someone who can’t work without instructions. Do you know what I mean?

[Saida]

It sounds like they intentionally used 族, like you might use punk in English, like “I don’t want you be like some punk who needs to be told every little thing.”

[sergiop]

Thank y’all! I did a little of research using the NINJAL database (thanks to @NicoleIsEnough for showing me this awesome resource!) and it seems that there is a pattern. The most popular seems to be 手待ち＝waiting move (shogi)