fetch-and-carry
See also: fetch and carry
English
editEtymology
editFrom fetch and carry.[1]
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌfɛt͡ʃ n̩ ˈkæɹi/
- (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /ˌfɛt͡ʃ n̩ ˈkɛɹi/
- Rhymes: -æɹi
- Hyphenation: fetch-and-car‧ry
Adjective
editfetch-and-carry (not comparable)
- (dated) Gossipy, tale-bearing.
- 1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume IV, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 247:
- [H]e declared, he would bequeath Willingham and all its lands to a hospital, ere that fetch and carry tell tale should inherit an acre of it.
Translations
editgossipy, tale-bearing — see gossipy
Noun
editfetch-and-carry (plural fetch-and-carries)
- An act of fetching and carrying.
- (figuratively) A person who serves in an overly obedient or subservient manner.
Translations
editact of fetching and carrying
person who serves obsequiously
References
edit- ^ “fetch-and-carry, n.” under “fetch, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021.