chamcha

Etymology
Borrowed from.

Noun

 * 1)  A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey.
 * 2) * 1989. Stuart Auerbach. Washington Post. (Mar. 26) “Nehru and His Nation”
 * M J Akbar has been called a chamcha to the Gandhi family, and some of that slavish devotion shows up in his uncritical acceptance of Nehru’s government-dominated economic program and the erosion of the country’s grass roots political structure as a result of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
 * 1) * 1994. William Dalrymple City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi (Dec. 1) “Glossary” p. 340:
 * Chamcha Sycophant (lit. ‘spoon’). 1997. Ghulam Nabi Azad. India Today (June 23) p. 13: I have my own standing in the party. I cannot be anybody’s chamcha (stooge).
 * 1) * 1997. Sudhir Vaishnav. Times of India. (Aug. 24) “A very political exercise”
 * Several hangers-on. They are available aplenty everywhere in the country and are often known in the local market as Chamcha.
 * 1) * 2004. Krishnakumar. Midday (Mumbai, India) (Sept. 21)
 * Leaders’ chamchas get lucky”: All three have pulled strings in their respective parties to get Assembly poll tickets for their puppets and close confidants, better known in political parlance as chamchas.
 * Leaders’ chamchas get lucky”: All three have pulled strings in their respective parties to get Assembly poll tickets for their puppets and close confidants, better known in political parlance as chamchas.

Related terms

 * chamchagiri (meaning spooning or sycophancy)