Word of the Day:

1 : (chiefly Australia & New Zealand) to avoid work or responsibility

2 : (chiefly Australia & New Zealand) to get something from or live on another by imposing on hospitality or good nature : sponge

"I'll catch the ferry or bludge a ride on the new boat of one of my commodity-boomed nouveau riche friends." — Phil Haberland, The Guardian Express (Australia), 6 Mar. 2007

"What I've never done, however, is use a hangover as an excuse to bludge." — Tom Elliott, The Herald Sun (Australia), 15 Sept. 2017

Though they can be annoying, people who bludge—bludgers—are relatively harmless. On the other hand, a bully armed with a bludgeon—a "bludgeoner"—can cause serious harm. In the 19th century, bludgeoner was shortened to bludger and used as a slang word for "pimp." That bludger was certainly a kind of bully, one apparently willing to wield a bludgeon now and then to insure his livelihood. In the early 20th century, bludge became the verb for what a bludger does. By then, a somewhat softened bludger had appeared in Australia and New Zealand: the pimping and the bullying were eliminated, and the parasitical tendencies reduced to mere cadging or sponging.