mangler

In its most literal sense, a mangler is someone or something that mangles — twists, tears, or mutilates something, whether laundry in a mechanical mangle or more figuratively a piece of text, a language, or a task. As slang, it can describe someone who habitually botches things or 'mangles' language (e.g., a mangler of idioms). In UK English, the mangle was a household laundry device, so 'mangler' as the operator of that machine was once an ordinary occupational term. Today it reads primarily as humorous or figurative.

Three uses cluster around the word: the person who operates a mangle for laundry; the machine itself; and someone who mangles or mutilates things through rough handling or poor execution. The mutilating sense is the most colorfully slang — calling someone a mangler of language or a mangler of songs is a pointed informal criticism of badly botched execution. Common in critical reviews or casual mockery.

One who mangles laundry.

One who mangles or mutilates.

The mangle (machine) used by this person.