# fetch and carry

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/fetch-and-carry
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To serve obsequiously.

## Examples

- He refuses to fetch and carry for his boss anymore.
- I am your teammate, so please do not expect me to fetch and carry.
- She felt like a servant because her manager expected her to fetch and carry for him all day.
- The new assistant spends most of her time having to fetch and carry for the lead actors instead of learning how the film set actually works.
- Even though he is a qualified lawyer, the senior partners still treat him like a child and make him fetch and carry their heavy files.
- The young intern grew tired of being expected to fetch and carry for the senior partners, so he began looking for a more professional role.

## Origin

From fetch + and + carry, originally a reference to a trained dog fetching and conveying an object back to its master: see, for example, William Shakespeare’s play The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act III, scene i (spelling modernized): “She hath more qualities than a water-spaniel, […] She can fetch and carry: why a horse can do no more; nay, a horse cannot fetch, but only carry, therefore is she better than a jade.”

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.