fetch-and-carry

From fetch and carry.[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌfɛt͡ʃ n̩ ˈkæɹi/
• (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˌfɛt͡ʃ n̩ ˈkɛɹi/
• Rhymes: -æɹi
• Hyphenation: fetch-and-car‧ry

fetch-and-carry (not comparable)

1. (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.

fetch-and-carry (plural fetch-and-carries)

1. An act of fetching and carrying.
2. (figuratively) A person who serves in an overly obedient or subservient manner.