Fromdog +-s- +body. 1818, British navy slang, originally derogatory reference to unappetizingpease pudding (comparedog's breakfast), as if it were made of mashed dog meat. In 20th century applied to low-ranked sailors, thence menial servants in wider usage.
dogsbody (pluraldogsbodies)
- (British, Ireland) Aperson who doesmenialwork, aservant.
1976, “Anarchy in the U.K.”, performed by Sex Pistols:'Cause I, I wanna be anarchy! / Nodogsbody!
1994,Blackadder (television production):That's just Baldrick, mydogsbody.
1995, Paul Kussmaul,Training The Translator, John Benjamins Publishing Co, page146:Furthermore, there are still rather backward opinions in our society about the role of a translator. A translator is often regarded as a linguisticdogsbody.
Person who does menial work
dogsbody (third-person singular simple presentdogsbodies,present participledogsbodying,simple past and past participledogsbodied)
- To act as a dogsbody, to do menialwork:
1989, Tim Parks,Family Planning:Perhaps because, having been brought up in all those different countries and languages, and then studying economics of all things for just a year, followed by four yearsdogsbodying for a haulage company, he had never got any serious reading done.
