handlanger meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

handlanger

nounalso spelled Handlanger

UK /ˈhændˌlæŋə/

Etymology Borrowed from Afrikaans handlanger (“assistant, helper”), from Dutch handlanger (“accomplice, henchman; assistant, helper”), analyzable as hand (“hand”) + langen (“to hand over or pass to”) + -er (“-er”, agent suffix) (in the sense of someone who puts things into another person's hands), from German Handlanger (“handyman; henchman”), from Hand (“hand”) + langen (“to hand over, to give; to reach for something”) + -er (“-er”, agent suffix).

South Africa An unskilled assistant to an artisan.

[…] building himself brick by brick, with his wife as his only handlanger.1976, Het Suid Western:

South Africa, Figuratively An aide, an assistant.

[E]very political leader has a handlanger. Like a toddler with a security blanket, the political handlanger is a necessary sop and sponge for all the tension that goes with the job. And there is nothing either disreputable or degrading about the role. Politics can be spiteful and demanding; the handlanger is the trusted confidant, the one person whom the leader can sound out, seek counsel from and trust.2006, Richard Calland, Anatomy of South Africa: Who Holds the Power?, Cape Town: Zebra Press, →ISBN, page 177:
The time for talk truly is over now. The ANC will have to do the necessary, find its backbone and rein in [Jacob] Zuma, his cronies and their handlangers to avert an economic crisis happening on its watch.2016 March 17, Judith February, “Which colour pill will the ANC choose?”, in Daily Maverick, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2016:

Alternative letter-case form of Handlanger.

Handlanger

noun

Etymology Borrowed from German Handlanger (“handyman; henchman”), from Hand (“hand”) + langen (“to hand over, to give; to reach for something”) + -er (in the sense of someone who puts things into another person's hands, that is, someone whose task it is to help another person succeed). The word was loaned into Dutch and might have entered English through the Dutch form.

Government, Military, Politics, War Historical A low-ranking artillery soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army.

Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, by His Majeſty's Command, preſented to the Houſe, Copy of a Convention between the King of Great Britain and the States General, on the one Part; and the Empreſs Queen of Hungary and Bohemia on the other— […] Artillery. […] 12 Gunners, or Handlangers. […] 2 Drummers, at the Pay of Handlangers. […] 4 Aſſiſtants, at the Pay of Handlangers.1746 January 22, “Jovis, 22° die Januarii; Anno 20° Georgii II Regis, 1746”, in Journals of the House of Commons. From October the 17th, 1745, in the Nineteenth Year of the Reign of King George the Second, to November the 22nd, 1750, in the Twenty-fourth Year of the Reign of King George the Second. Re-printed by Order of the House of Commons, volume 25, London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, published 1803, →OCLC, pages 247 and 250–251:
The Handlanger soldier was not a gunner or a bombardier, since he merely acted as labour on gun-sites […]1973, Albert Seaton, The Austro-Hungarian Army of the Napoleonic Wars (Men-at-arms Series), Reading, Oxon.: Osprey Publishing, →ISBN:

2 more examples

After the defeat of 1809, the four artillery regiments were kept in existence, but the Handlanger-Corps was reduced to a cadre.1990, Philip J. Haythornthwaite, Austrian Specialist Troops of the Napoleonic Wars (Men-at-arms Series; 223), London: Osprey Publishing, →ISBN, page 11:
The artillerymen concentrated on directing, loading and firing the guns, the remaining simpler functions being performed by the Handlanger. The No. 1 gunner inserted the charge and shot into the muzzle, No. 2 (a Handlanger) rammed it home and cleared the barrel with the sponge after firing. The chief gunner was No. 3, the Vormeister (gun commander) who was often a Bombardier, as were many Korporals. […] [H]e would also direct No. 5; the Handlanger holding the traversing spar and the Handlanger moving the gun.2003, David Hollins, Austrian Napoleonic Artillery 1792–1815 (New Vanguard; 72), Oxford: Osprey Publishing, →ISBN, page 14:

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