mindess.html -
noun (Politics) (People and Society) A person employed to
protect a
celebrity , politician, etc. from physical harm or from unwanted
publicity . Also, a political adviser (especially a senior politician who protects a more inexperienced one from embarrassment or mistakes, for example in an election campaign);
anyone whose job is to 'mind' another person and ensure that he or she does not overstep the mark. Etymology: A sense which has developed from the use of minder in criminals' slang since the twenties. A criminal's bodyguard or assistant was known as a minder, and
this word has now
simply been applied in a wider and more official context, perhaps under the influence of the very successful television series Minder (1979- ), about a petty criminal and
his bodyguard, whom he hires out to 'mind' other people's property. History and
Usage : Extended uses of the slang
sense of minder started to crop up quite frequently in the press from about the mid eighties, usually with the word minder in inverted commas; within a few years the inverted commas
had been dropped and minder seemed to have moved from
slang into the standard language. Pop stars and other celebrities often employ a whole group of minders, as much to ward off the unwanted attention of journalists and
inquisitive members of the public as to avoid physical harm. He goes out alone: unlike fellow multimillionaires like Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson, he refuses to employ a minder. Today 10 Nov. 1987, p.
20 The minder, Mr Simon Burns, Conservative MP for Chelmsford, directed all enquiries about the plans of Mr Nigel Lawson to the press office. The Times 30 Nov. 1988, p.
7 Her London lawyer and minder...had struck a deal
with a British newspaper to reveal the secrets
she has so far coyly refused to disclose. The Times 5 Apr. 1989, p. 7
