dogsbody
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L319682 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈdɒɡz.bɒ.dɪ/ / /ˈdɔɡz.bɑ.di/ / /ˈdɑɡz.bɑ.di/
noun
Etymology: From dog + -s- + body. 1818, British navy slang (dog's body), originally derogatory reference to unappetizing pease pudding (compare dog'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.
- A person who does menial work, a servant.
“Who chose this face for me? This dogsbody to rid of vermin.”
“'Cause I, I wanna be anarchy! / No dogsbody!”
- Alternative form of dog's body (“pease pudding”)
verb
Etymology: From dog + -s- + body. 1818, British navy slang (dog's body), originally derogatory reference to unappetizing pease pudding (compare dog'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.
- To act as a dogsbody, to do menial work
“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 years dogsbodying for a haulage company, he had never got any serious reading done.”