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Glite Dictionary
to fetch and carry

to fetch and carry

1 5.7
To do small, simple tasks or errands for someone in charge
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : hacer recados
  • As a volunteer, I mostly fetch and carry for the charity events, gathering supplies and running errands.

Examples

  • I'm just here to fetch and carry;

    The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

  • "They liked having me fetch and carry the messages."

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Mostly she's used us to fetch and carry.

    Now, Voyager (1942)

  • You want me back only to pick up your slippers and put up with your tempers and fetch and carry for you.

    My Fair Lady (1964)

  • His job with Aero-Tours—"fetch and carry," he says ruefully—is only step one on the road to fame and fortune.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • On weekends, she often has to fetch and carry for her elderly neighbor, taking care of errands for him.

  • In his role at the office, he was expected to fetch and carry for the senior executives whenever they needed assistance.

Synonyms

to fetch
vsto fetch and carry
198 1.0

To go and bring back something or someone

involves many small errands and subordinate tasks rather than a single trip
water-carrying
vsto fetch and carry
  • Offensive
8.8

Doing small unseen jobs or always defending someone else

focuses on running errands and menial chores for someone else

Antonyms

to delegate
45 3.7

To give a job and authority to someone so they do it for you

How Menial

to devil
  • Jargon
9.6
to fetch and carry
  • Informal
1 5.7
to assist
605 1.0

Surface Forms

fetch and carry infinitive
fetched and carried past
fetched and carried past participle
fetching and carrying present participle
fetches and carries third person singular

Morphology

fetch + and + carry

The phrase literally names the actions 'fetch' (go to get something) and 'carry' (move something), so its idiomatic meaning of doing errands or menial tasks is directly inferable from the constituents and the coordinating 'and'. This compositional reading is common and cross-linguistically accessible, so a B1 learner who knows the words would very likely understand the MWE.

Etymology

Fetch and carry comes from the image of a helper who would fetch things and then carry them to someone else. Because this work was about doing small, often unimportant jobs for another person, the phrase now means 'to do small jobs or run errands'.