different between spange vs spanger

English

Etymology

Blend of spare +? change, from stereotyped phrase “spare change?”, “[can you] spare any change?” Its derivation also relates to the word sponge. (That is to say spanging is sponging.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spe?nd??/

Verb

spange (third-person singular simple present spanges, present participle spanging, simple past and past participle spanged)

1. (US) to beg, particularly using the phrase “spare change?”
   • 1996, Tim “Salvage”, quoted in Ian Fisher, “Erin’s looking for Leg-Rub Steve. Fly’s looking for CD’s to steal. Star’s looking for Jaya. And it’s starting to get cold.”

     I don’t spange much because I really don’t like doing it. I eat out of trash cans a lot.

   • 2009, Kelly Myers, 33, quoted in Joe Deegan, “Nowhere To Go”, San Diego Reader

     Then my father would send all us kids out to ‘spange’ [beg for spare change]. You could sometimes make $50 a day by spanging. Other days you might make a dollar.

Usage notes

Often used to refer to one’s own activities, without pejorative sense. Compare spanger, often used pejoratively to refer to others.

Derived terms

• spanger
• spanging

References

• Word Watch, The Atlantic, April 1997, by Anne H. Soukhanov, executive editor of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition.

Anagrams

• paseng, pegans

English

Etymology

spange +? -er (“person who does”), root blend of spare +? change, from stereotyped phrase “spare change?”, “spare any change?”

Pronunciation

Noun

spanger (plural spangers)

1. (US, slang, derogatory) beggar, one who uses the phrase “spare change?”
   • 2007, Pam Hogeweide, Spangers and Song on Hawthorne:

     I squatted down on the sidewalk to get eye level with the spanger (someone who asks passerbys for spare change).

Usage notes

While sometimes used neutrally, more often used pejoratively, with connotations of professional begging.

Related terms

• spange
• spanging

References

Anagrams

• Pranges, engrasp