Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Word of the Day

codger \KOJ-er\,
noun:
an eccentric man, especially one who is old.

He'll find one of those joints and be there, evening after evening, talking to the bartender confidentially but loud enough. It won't be long before they get used to him. An old codger with money, stooped but still pretty big.
-- Louis Begley, "Schmidt Delivered," 2000

One of the lesser Shadows whom we shall call Baron A. had a father-in-law called Baron B., a harmless old codger long retired from the civil service and quite incapable of understanding certain Renaissance aspects of the new regime.
-- Vladimir Nabokov, "Pale Fire," 1962

Codger is likely related to the word cadge meaning "to beg." Its etymology is uncertain.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day