handlanger, noun

/ˈhantlaŋə(r)/
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, hand hand + lang, langs alongside + agential suffix -er.
An assistant, especially an unskilled worker who fetches and carries for a trained artisan; occasionally, an artisan.
1958 H. Wicht Rd below Me 9To help me I had a..bricklayer...Then we had a disagreement and he left. After that, with only Willie as a handlanger, I did the rest.
1963 A.M. Louw 20 Days 80This rush job on at Fish Hoek and none of the Kaffir-handlangers — journey-men — coming to work.
1970 S. Sparks Informant, Fort Beaufort, Eastern CapeThe mason has a handlanger to fetch and carry for him.
1975 E. Prov. Herald 14 Aug. 9It was one of those films at which one felt extreme embarrassment — White people playing Black ‘handlangers’ with shoe-polished faces.
1977 Evening Post 26 May 10Cheran is..careful when choosing a bit for her electric drill...‘As a kid, I was my father’s “handlanger” — passer of tools.’
1980 Service leaflet, St. Thomas’s Church, RondeboschCarpenters! Handlangers! Helpers of all sorts — even those who don’t know that a dovetail made on the Sabbath is a Sunday joint — are..needed..to help with the adjustments to the pews.
1986 Spire (Cathedral of St. Michael & St. George, Grahamstown) July 8Merriman..strode about his Parish..with a faithful ‘handlanger’.
1988 G. Croudace Secret of Rock 41The other two started repairs to the canoe, Val accepting the role of handlanger to Jacques with no sign of resentment.
1991 F.G. Butler Local Habitation 184Jane was a particularly eager handlanger. As soon as I picked up a hammer she regarded it as her responsibility to hand me something, anything for my free hand.
1992 J. Raphaely in Femina Apr. 6I found a man with a lorry who said it would take one trip, two handlangers, and four hours to clear out the entire garden.
An assistant, especially an unskilled worker who fetches and carries for a trained artisan; occasionally, an artisan.
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19581992

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Afrikaans
handel, verb transitiveintransitivev.handsopper, nounn.
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