fart-catchern.
/ˈfɑːtˌkatʃə/, U.S. /ˈfɑrtˌkɛtʃər/, /ˈfɑrtˌkætʃər/, Canadian English /ˈfɑrtˌkætʃər/ colloquial.
1. A foot servant or page. Cf. catch-fart n. at catch v. Compounds. Now historical.With allusion to the closeness with which such a servant was supposed to follow his master or mistress.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > attendant or personal servant > [noun] > footman
footmanc1405
foot knavea1425
lackey1512
lacket1523
staffier1532
outrunner1598
fore-footman1610
skip-kennel1668
fart-catcher1785
carriage man1857
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Fart catcher, a valet or footman, from his walking behind his master or mistress.
1891 J. S. Farmer Slang II. 375/1 Fart-catcher, a footman.
1997 P. Carey Jack Maggs (1998) xxii. 79 Who can say exactly what it was that made passers-by smile to see them?—the slight roll to the fart-catcher's walk, the anxious perambulation of the little master.
2. A servile assistant or follower; a lackey, a hanger-on. Now chiefly Canadian.Probably popularized by the Canadian satirical magazine Frank: see e.g. quot. 1993.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > servility > [noun] > servile person
clienta1393
snivelard1398
a dog for (also to) the bowc1405
fawnerc1440
snivellerc1450
slave1521
footstool1531
minion1560
footman1567
cringer1582
earthworm1583
yea-sayer1584
croucher1587
creeper1589
sneak-up1598
spaniel1598
sneak-cupa1616
servile1632
puppy dog1651
clientelary1655
lackey1692
groveling1708
prostite1721
prostitute1721
toad-eater1742
groveller1779
cringeling1798
creeping Jesusc1818
toady1826
truckler1827
crawler1847
flunkey1854
doormat1861
dog robber1863
heeler1875
slaveling1884
bootlicker1890
fetch-and-carry1905
poodle1907
yes-woman1927
ass-licker1939
ass-kisser1951
chamcha1966
fart-catcher1971
society > authority > rule or government > politics > politician > [noun] > political hanger-on
water carrier1835
bummer1872
heeler1875
ward-heeler1890
lackey1939
fart-catcher1971
1971 H. Zohn tr. F. Werfel Spiegelmensch in Karl Kraus vi. 97 Everyone who feels, after reading the first line, that I am a comical informer and fartcatcher [Fürzefänger] will have to admit, upon reading the next line, that I am Isaiah incarnate.
1977 S. Stallone Paradise Alley iii. 26 I ain't walkin' behind nobody—I ain't nobody's fart catcher!
1993 Frank 8 July 8/1 Muldoon told Globe and Mail editor William Thorsell he made a big mistake not backing Jean Charest earlier in the race. Sure enough, Muldoon fartcatchers Michel Cogger, Hugh Segal,..and Harry Near were with Charest at the end.
2006 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 22 Apr. f1 All those recycled banalities that CEOs and their fart catchers fob off as pearls of wisdom make me want to gag.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1785