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A dogsbody, dog's body, or less commonly dog robber is someone who does menial or drudge work.^[1] Originally, in the British Royal Navy, a dogsbody was a semi-sarcastic colloquialism for a junior officer or midshipman.^[1] A batman has a similar function.

A rough American equivalent would be a package-handler, gofer, grunt,^[2] lackey, or workhorse.^[3]

History

The Royal Navy used dried peas boiled in a bag (pease pudding) as one of their staple foods circa the early 19th century. Sailors nicknamed this item "dog's body". In the early 20th century, junior officers and midshipmen who performed jobs that more senior officers did not want to do began to be called "dogsbodies".^[2] The term became more common in non-naval usage c. 1930, referring to people who were stuck with rough work.^[2]

The term "dogsbody" has not always been derogatory, with a number of people deliberately using it as their callsign or handle. The most famous of these is probably Douglas Bader, who was an RAF fighter pilot during the Second World War.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2010, s.v.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dogsbody definition
^ Lackey definition
^ Reach for the Sky, Paul Brickhill

This slang article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[oed-1] Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2010, s.v.

[DEFN-2] Dogsbody definition

[3] Lackey definition

[4] Reach for the Sky, Paul Brickhill

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[2]

[3]

[4]

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+{{Short description|Someone performing menial tasks}}
-:''This is an article about a military rank. For the novel by [[Diana Wynne Jones]], see [[Dogsbody (novel)]].''
+{{about|a slang term|the novel by Diana Wynne Jones|Dogsbody (novel)|the album by Model/Actriz|Dogsbody (album)}}
-{{wiktionarypar|dogsbody}}
-A '''dogsbody''', or less commonly '''dog robber''' in the [[Royal Navy]], is a [[junior officer]], or more generally someone who does [[drudge]] work. A rough [[USA|American]] equivalent would be a "[[gofer]]" or a "grunt",<ref name="DEFN">[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dog1.htm Dogsbody definition]</ref> a "lackey",<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lackey Lackey definition]</ref> or "toady".<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toady Toady definition]</ref>
+A '''dogsbody''', '''dog's body''', or less commonly '''dog robber''' is someone who does menial or drudge work.<ref name="oed">''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', 3rd edition, 2010, [https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/56503 ''s.v.'']</ref> Originally, in the British [[Royal Navy]], a dogsbody was a semi-sarcastic colloquialism for a [[junior officer]] or midshipman.<ref name="oed"/> A [[batman_(military)|batman]] has a similar function.
-==History==
+A rough American equivalent would be a package-handler, [[gofer]], grunt,<ref name="DEFN">[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dog1.htm Dogsbody definition]</ref> lackey, or workhorse.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lackey Lackey definition]</ref>
-The Royal Navy used dried [[pea]]s and [[egg (food)|egg]]s boiled in a bag ([[pease pudding]]) as one of their staple foods circa the early 19th century. [[Sailor]]s nicknamed this item "dog's body". In the early 20th century, junior officers and [[midshipmen]] who performed jobs that more senior officers did not want to do began to be called "dogsbodies".<ref name="DEFN"/> The term became more common in non-naval usage ca. 1930, referring to people who were stuck with rough work.<ref name="DEFN"/>
-==Trivia==
+==History==
-* The kitchen maid "Daisy" refers to herself as a dogsbody in the Season 2 finale of "Downton Abbey."
-*[[Baldrick]], the character in ''[[Blackadder]]'', is called a dogsbody.
-*''[[The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]]'' refers to one of the minor characters at Millennium, named Henry Cortez, as a dogsbody on page 338 of the paperback edition.
-*Gaius explains to Merlin that the young warlock is his dogsbody, along with being Arthur's servant, in the third episode of the BBC's [[Merlin (TV series)|''Merlin'']] TV series.
-*Line in the song "[[Anarchy in the UK]]" by the band the [[Sex Pistols]]. "'Cause I wanna be anarchy...No dog's body".
+The Royal Navy used dried [[pea]]s boiled in a bag ([[pease pudding]]) as one of their staple foods circa the early 19th century. [[Sailor]]s nicknamed this item "dog's body". In the early 20th century, junior officers and [[midshipmen]] who performed jobs that more senior officers did not want to do began to be called "dogsbodies".<ref name="DEFN"/> The term became more common in non-naval usage {{circa|1930}}, referring to people who were stuck with rough work.<ref name="DEFN"/>
-The term dogsbody has not always been derogatory, with a number of people deliberately using it as their callsign or handle. The most famous of these is probably [[Douglas Bader]], who was an [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] fighter pilot during the [[Second World War]].<ref>''Reach for the Sky'', Paul Brickhill</ref>
+The term "dogsbody" has not always been derogatory, with a number of people deliberately using it as their callsign or handle. The most famous of these is probably [[Douglas Bader]], who was an [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] fighter pilot during the [[Second World War]].<ref>''Reach for the Sky'', Paul Brickhill</ref>
 ==References==
+{{wiktionary|dogsbody}}
 {{reflist}}
 [[Category:Military terminology]]
+{{Slang-stub}}