Learn English – A better word than “babysitter” for an adult

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In today´s issue of the Chicago Tribune, there appeared a column by Dahleen Glanto entitled:

Help Wanted: White House Babysitter
Must be able to calm the 70-year-old president down when he has a temper tantrum. No government experience necessary, but expertise in seven key areas is mandatory.

It then goes on to enumerate the 7 areas in which the president needs supervision such as compassion, protocol, news (fake and otherwise), tweeting and so on.

He already has a plethora of aides, counselors, and advisors. What would be a more respectful (but still descriptive) term for such a position (should one actually exist)?

Best Answer

minder

minder noun minder (Cambridge Dictionary) ​

someone who protects another person, often a famous person, from danger and unwanted public attention:

The president arrived surrounded by his minders. ​

someone who controls what another person says and does:

His public-relations minder refused to allow him to answer any of the journalists' questions.

The term "minder" has also been used to refer to the people who travel bureaus in Communist countries assigned to visitors to keep track of them.

The point of the op-ed is, as many comments have pointed out, to claim that the president acts like a baby or child in a variety of ways. The choice of the word "babysitter" and the editors who agreed to it is purposeful; it is a question of style by the author.

A president has no shortage of aides to consult about protocol, manners, timing, language, etc. for dealing with the press, social media, foreign dignitaries, members of Congress, and so forth. Given this advice, the choices are his.

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