www.alphadictionary.com

• cadge •

Pronunciation: kæj • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb

Meaning: (Colloquial) To mooch, bum, sponge, or beg; to panhandle.

Notes: Today's Good Word is used more in Britain than in the US. In the US we use mooch in pretty much the same sense. Even in Britain it is a bit old-fashioned according to the MacMillan Dictionary. The abstract and personal nouns are straightforward: cadging and cadger, respectively. The adjective cadgy is long since obsolete.

In Play: In Britain we might hear this: "Let's knock up Gretchen and see if we can cadge a cuppa from her." Translated into US English that would be, "Let's knock on Gretchen's door and see if we can mooch a cup of tea from her." The English language separates the Brits and the Yanks as much as it unites us.

Word History: The origin and original meaning of today's Good Word is veiled in mystery. In some early passages the spelling varied between cache, cacche, and catch. This last spelling suggests it may have been a variant of catch, along the lines of such pairs as hotchpotch : hodgepodge, botch : bodge, and smutch : smudge. The first historical spelling suggests today's word may have come from Old French cacher "to put away, hide". Either explanation is only speculation, of course. If the first is correct, and the origin is catch, we can trace the word's history from that point back. In Middle English it was cacchen from Old North French cachier "to chase", inherited from Latin captare "to seize". English borrowed various words with the same root, which went into the making of capture, captive and captious. The original word came to English through its Old Germanic origins as have. (Kathleen McCune now of Sweden may freely cadge a word of thanks from us for submitting today's Good Word.)

"Scrounge" is conspicuous by its absence from your list of synonyms.
"Wheedle" might also be listed, although that's a bit of a stretch.

I don't doubt the veracity of the Good Doctor's suggestion that in England you might hear "...and see if we can cadge a cuppa from her". Indeed you might. But you wouldn't hear an English person say "Let's knock up Gretchen..." At least you wouldn't hear knocking up in polite company. It is an English euphemism for 'having sex with'.

But back to cadge and Barbara's suggestions for synonyms. In Australia the word is bludge. "Can I bludge a cigarette from you?" Scrounge is a lovely word and certainly merits inclusion as a synonym.

David, I think you may have that confused with U.S. slang.
Here it means to get someone pregnant, but in U.K., I believe it just means to awaken or get the attention of.
There are many many "jokes" about Americans being confused by the U.K. usage while traveling-- either the American in London, or the Brit in New York.

Debby M.