Definition

Noun: 1. An employee whose duties include running errands: A person, typically in an office or on a film set, whose job involves performing various minor tasks, especially fetching items or delivering messages.

Usage

The word "gofer" is informal and is used to describe a junior or assistant-level role focused on completing small, often urgent, tasks for others. It implies a position where one "goes for" things (e.g., coffee, documents, lunch).

Examples

• Noun:
  • She started her career in Hollywood as a gofer for a film director.
  • The intern acted as a gofer, bringing coffee and making photocopies for the team.
  • Every office needs a reliable gofer to handle all the small errands.

Advanced Usage

• "to work as a gofer": to have a job performing miscellaneous errands.
  • He worked as a gofer on the political campaign, doing whatever was needed.

Variants and Related Words

• Gopher (noun): An alternative, less common spelling for "gofer." It can also refer to a type of burrowing rodent or a network protocol, so context is important.
  • In some companies, the role is humorously spelled "gopher" on the job description.

Synonyms

• Errand runner: A person who runs errands.
• Assistant: A person who helps, though this is more general.
• Intern: A trainee, who often performs gofer duties.
• Flunky (informal, often derogatory): A person who performs menial tasks.

Idioms and Phrases

• "to be the office gofer": to be the person in an office routinely asked to run errands.
  • As the newest hire, he quickly became the office gofer.

Noun

1. an employee whose duties include running errands