different between loafer vs bludger

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?l??f?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?lo?f?/
• Rhymes: -??f?(r)

Etymology 1

Perhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer (compare dialectal German loofen (“to run”), and English landlouper); or connected to Middle English love, loove, loffinge, looffinge (“a remnant, the rest, that which remains or lingers”), from Old English l?f (“remainder, residue, what is left”) (more at lave), which is akin to Scots lave (“the rest, remainder”), Old English l?fan (“to leave behind”) (more at leave).

Noun

loafer (plural loafers)

1. An idle person.
2. A shoe with no laces, resembling a moccasin.

Synonyms

• (idle person): bum, bumpkin, footler, idler, lout, yob, yobbo
• (footwear): penny loafer
• See also Thesaurus:idler

Translations

Etymology 2

From American Spanish lobo (“wolf”) (/?lo?o/), reinterpreted as or conflated with loafer (“idler”); compare the alternative forms which reflect other re-interpretations and conflations. Doublet of lupus and wolf.

Alternative forms

• lobo, lobo wolf
• lofer (wolf), lover (wolf), loper (wolf)

Noun

loafer (plural loafers)

1. (Southwestern US dialects) A wolf, especially a grey or timber wolf.

Usage notes

• Often used in compound with "wolf": "loafer wolf".

Further reading

• Robert N. Smead, Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West

Anagrams

• Florea, florae, floræ

English

Etymology

Corruption of bludgeoner.

Pronunciation

Noun

bludger (plural bludgers)

1. (Australia, slang) A pimp, a man living off the earnings of a harlot. [From 1856.]
   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, Chapter VII, p. 106, [1]

     Oscar pondered for a while, then said, "Oh, but halfcastes don't seem to be any good at all. All the men here are loafers and bludgers, the women practically all whores."
2. (Australia, New Zealand, slang, derogatory) A person who avoids working, or doing their share of work, a loafer, a hanger-on, one who does not pull their weight. [From 1919.]
3. A ball used in the sports of Quidditch and Muggle Quidditch.

Derived terms

• dole bludger

Related terms

• bludge

See also

• freeloader
• free rider

References

Anagrams

• Ludbreg, burgled