Chugger
January 11, 2005
chugger n. A professional fundraiser who approaches people on the street to ask for money on behalf of a charity. Composite word created from charity + mugger.
The earliest citation of this word (according to Word Spy), is:
Is it just me, or where I live, or are there far more people demanding our attention in the street these days? This week I needed to walk from Tottenham Court Road tube in London, along Oxford Street, then north up Regent Street to the BBC. On the way I counted all the people who accosted me. There was a busker in the tube, two beggars ... and no fewer than three "chuggers" which, I gather, is the term for charity muggers, those people with clipboards who want you to sign a standing order for their good cause. —Simon Hoggart, "How to spot a loser — look for the pine cones and rice salad," The Guardian (London, England), June 29, 2002
Those of you interested in fishing will be more familiar with the use of chugger as a topwater lure.
I'll be brave and attempt a French equivalent: Attaquêteurs (attaquant (attacker) + quêteurs (collector)). Any other ideas?
This is getting boring - I'll have one more go (your comments software apparently doesn't like french-style guillemets ...)
Oh my, now you're not just commenting on current usage but joining the innovators... I like attaqueteurs, in fact I like it better than chuggers.
Posted by Jean on January 11, 2005 4:24 PMSorry about the dodgy software Jean, you're the persevering type, aren't you? :) I'll delete your first comments then.
Posted by céline on January 11, 2005 4:33 PMYou display much hubris in coining the French word. :-)
Oh, and do you mean "composite" word or something similar? Letters usually aren't removed from compound words (unless an apostrophe is used), at least in my experience.
Posted by Steve on January 11, 2005 7:41 PMSteve, you're right, composite is much more accurate, I've corrected it. Thanks!
Posted by céline on January 12, 2005 10:35 AMNice one, Céline. I have asked for suggestions for a translation into German at http://www.blogall.de/linklog/index.php?id=9966.
Posted by Bettina on January 12, 2005 1:41 PMOr, rather than a composite, it's a Portmanteau word--at least according to Lewis Carrol. There's a Wiki for it ('Wikipedia' itself being another portmanteau word) at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau , but it seems the more common term for it is a 'blend word', discussed at http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/blend.htm . You can get a handy list of them at http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/~steuben/blendwords.htm . I'd heard of chortle (chuckle + snort), but goon = gorilla + baboon? Hmmm.
Posted by Ben on January 17, 2005 11:17 PMOh how I love to be in the countryside listening
to the sound of the birds and squibbons! Squibbon, AKA 'Tree Octopus'. It's a squid like creature which swings through the trees like a gibbon. The BBC think that through evolution we might get to see these creatures in our gardens soon. Perhaps we'll see other sea creatures make the move to land. I thought I spotted a scale where the chugger's make up had run. Oh and the slimey hands!