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4 hours ago, Celest said:

Never heard of the term dogsbody @liuzhou I see in your profile is says from China, is that a common term used in China?

I live in China, but I'm not Chinese; I'm British. No one knows the term 'dogsbody' here.

The word was coined by sailors and took on currency in the 1920s.

Quote

2.2 A junior person, esp. one to whom a variety of menial tasks is given; a drudge, a general utility person. colloq.
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1922 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 365 I'll have got used to being a dog's body.    1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 80 Dogsbody, a Midshipman. A humorous semi-sarcastic colloquialism for any junior officer, R.N. E.g., ‘He's only a dogsbody sub’.    1928 Daily Express 3 Apr. 13/2 A midshipman is known‥in the service as a ‘snottie’.‥ If he is a junior midshipman he is also a ‘dog's body’. I defy anyone to be accurate and sentimental about a snottie who is a dog's body.    1932 H. Simpson Boomerang ix. 184 His post of dog's-body‥left him no leisure at all.    1934 M. Hodge Wind & Rain ii. i. 57 Oh, no. I don't understand anything! I'm just ‘a dog's body’.    1942 M. Dickens One Pair of Feet vii. 116 People who told me I should be a house-parlourmaid ‘on Privates [sc. private wards]’ had over-estimated. I was Dogsbody.    1950 L. A. G. Strong Which I Never v. 169 As Assistant Stage Manager and general dog's body, she was grossly overworked and supremely happy.    1955 H. Spring These Lovers fled Away vii. 205 My status was never defined. I was everybody's dog's-body.    Ibid. xvii. 481 Introduced to a secretary whose dog's-body she was to be.    1967 Listener 14 Sept. 332/3, I was a sort of general dogsbody to begin with—assistant stage-manager, and what have you.

Girl Friday is from the 1940s, first used in Time Magazine.

4 hours ago, Celest said:

Never heard of the term dogsbody @liuzhou I see in your profile is says from China, is that a common term used in China?

I live in China, but I'm not Chinese; I'm British. No one knows the term 'dogsbody' here.

The word was coined by sailors and took on currency in the 1920s.

Quote

2.2 A junior person, esp. one to whom a variety of menial tasks is given; a drudge, a general utility person. colloq.
.

.

1922 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 365 I'll have got used to being a dog's body.    1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 80 Dogsbody, a Midshipman. A humorous semi-sarcastic colloquialism for any junior officer, R.N. E.g., ‘He's only a dogsbody sub’.    1928 Daily Express 3 Apr. 13/2 A midshipman is known‥in the service as a ‘snottie’.‥ If he is a junior midshipman he is also a ‘dog's body’. I defy anyone to be accurate and sentimental about a snottie who is a dog's body.    1932 H. Simpson Boomerang ix. 184 His post of dog's-body‥left him no leisure at all.    1934 M. Hodge Wind & Rain ii. i. 57 Oh, no. I don't understand anything! I'm just ‘a dog's body’.    1942 M. Dickens One Pair of Feet vii. 116 People who told me I should be a house-parlourmaid ‘on Privates [sc. private wards]’ had over-estimated. I was Dogsbody.    1950 L. A. G. Strong Which I Never v. 169 As Assistant Stage Manager and general dog's body, she was grossly overworked and supremely happy.    1955 H. Spring These Lovers fled Away vii. 205 My status was never defined. I was everybody's dog's-body.    Ibid. xvii. 481 Introduced to a secretary whose dog's-body she was to be.    1967 Listener 14 Sept. 332/3, I was a sort of general dogsbody to begin with—assistant stage-manager, and what have you.

Girl Friday is from the 1940s, fist used in Time Magazine.