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A gofer, go-fer or gopher /ˈɡoʊfər/ is an employee who specializes in the delivery of special items to their superior(s). Examples of these special items include a cup of coffee, a tool, a tailored suit, or a car. Outside of the business world, the term is used to describe a child or young adult who is learning how to do tasks and is sent to fetch items. A similar job is that of peon in Commonwealth countries.
Gofer may also refer to a junior member of an organisation who generally receive the most vexing and thankless work. Law firms with a top-heavy management structure, having not enough junior lawyers to take care of menial yet necessary tasks, can be referred to as having "too many loafers and not enough gophers".
Etymology
Gofer derives from “go for” and typifies a boss’s often impromptu order to an underling, usually a menial one, to go and fetch something, frequently of a personal nature, such as coffee, dry-cleaned garments, or postage stamps. The term originated in North America.
In popular culture
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In the first season (1976) of the television series The Muppet Show, Scooter was given the stage manager job because his uncle owned the theater where the Muppets performed. The pun was that a gopher not only is an animal, like the Muppets supposedly are, but is a fast animal, collecting food and delivering it somewhere else. At some point in the Muppets series, Kermit the Frog suggested that he himself was a gofer, but probably didn't last long in the job.
Chavo Guerrero was considered to be a gofer for his aunt Vickie Guerrero on WWE's SmackDown for most of 2008 (Vickie was SmackDown's General Manager at the time) when they were both part of the villainous La Familia stable. This would become a sporadic running joke on WWE programming as other superstars would mock Chavo for this reason.
The 2008 film WALL-E features a robotic gofer (named GO-4, a pun on gofer), who is the henchman of the villainous AI autopilot AUTO.
Brad Pitt's character Cliff Booth is a gofer for Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the 2019 movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In the TV series Entourage, the character Salvatore "Turtle" Assante, is gofer to movie star Vincent Chase.
In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The JoJoLands, the main character, Jodio Joestar, is a gofer and gangster for the state's underground drug trade.
In 3rd Rock from the Sun Harry is hired as a gofer at Sally's TV station but believes he is supposed to be a gopher. Season 6, Episode 13.
References
- Larry Fazio (2000). Stage Manager: The Professional Experience. Focal Press. p. 310. ISBN 0-240-80336-1.