Minions, sycophants, toadies, and other creatures
Throughout history, wherever there have been monarchs, dictators, or strongmen there have been crowds of followers eager to gain influence and reap material rewards by doing their leader’s bidding. English has a wide and colorful assortment of terms for such persons.
Henchman, one of the oldest of these terms, dates from the Middle Ages, when aristocratic status was closely tied to military service. The horse being an essential piece of military equipment, a prince or other nobleman of high rank would naturally ride the best horse he could find, and would entrust that horse only to a loyal, dependable page who would take good care of it. Such a page was a henchman, a compound of the Middle English hengest (“horse, steed”) and man. From that specific meaning the word was eventually broadened to refer to any loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
Then there are minions. Nowadays the word is generally used for mere underlings who assist a villain, like the charmingly inept, bright yellow creatures in the 2010 film Despicable Me and its sequels. But originally it denoted a special favorite of a king or other ruler. In fact, minion, which entered English around the year 1500, was originally spelled mignon, from the same French word (meaning “cute” or “darling”) that appears in filet mignon. When applied to the special favorites of a king, minion often carried the implication that the favorites were selected more for their physical attractiveness than for their diplomatic, military, or administrative skills.
Sycophant is a 16th-century borrowing from classical Greek by way of Latin, but beyond that its derivation is a bit uncertain. The Greek sūkophantēs meant “an informer,” and that word is evidently from the phrase sūkon phainein, meaning “to show a fig.” But why should someone who shows a fig be an informer? Perhaps sūkophantēs first referred to denouncers of theft or exportation of figs. Or, if you prefer a less mundane explanation, it may refer to an obscene gesture long known by the euphemism “making a fig.” The answer is lost in the mists of time.
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, when Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, complains that his brother Antonio has usurped his power and “new created / The creatures that were mine,” he doesn’t use creature in what is now its most common sense, “a living being, especially an animal.” Rather, he uses it to mean “one who is dependent on or subservient to another.” Both these senses derive from the word’s original meaning, “something created.” Animals, of course, were first called “creatures” because they were believed to have been created by God; dependent followers, on the other hand, were called “creatures” because they owed their position, status, or power to the favor of their patron, who could be figuratively said to have “created” them.
The word toady has its origins in the practices of seventeenth-century quacks who claimed that they could draw out poisons from poisoning victims. Toads were thought to be poisonous, and so these quacks would have an attendant eat—or pretend to eat—a toad. The quacks could then make a show of drawing out the poison and saving their helpers’ lives. Since eating a toad is an unpleasant job, these attendants came to epitomize the type of person who would do anything for a superior, and toadeater became the name for a flattering, fawning parasite. Later, in the nineteenth century, the word toady, (“sycophant, flatterer,”) came into use, apparently formed directly from the word toad rather than shortened from toadeater.
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