Dogsbody

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This is an article about a military rank. For the novel by Diana Wynne Jones, see Dogsbody (novel).

Look up dogsbody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A Dogsbody, or less commonly dog robber in the Royal Navy is a junior officer; someone who does drudge work. An American equivalent would be a "gofer" or "grunt."

The Royal Navy used dried peas boiled in a bag as one of their staple foods ca. the early 1800s. Sailors nicknamed this vile substance "dog's body." In the early 20th century, junior officers and midshipmen who performed jobs more senior officers did not want to do began to be called "dogsbodys," and the term became more common in non-naval usage ca. 1930 to come to refer to people who were stuck with rough work.

In the BBC TV series Blackadder, the character Baldrick is commonly referred to as Blackadder's dogsbody.