codger

an old person. derives from coffin dodger
some old codger died last night at the old peoples home
the origin of codger seems to lie in the complex links between cadger and codger (not as a contraction of ‘coffin-dodger’, as one of my more inventive correspondents has suggested). in some parts of england the two words were used interchangeably, whereas in other regions they were separate words, one meaning ‘beggar’ and the other ‘eccentric/grotesque fellow’. the latter meaning is the one used in an early example of ‘old codger’, david garrick’s farce bon ton, 1775:

“my lord’s servants call you an old out-of-fashion’d codger.”

men who had fallen on hard times and had resorted to any means possible to keep body and soul together were often those who were too old to find work. a cadger was likely to be a grizzled character wanting to borrow or steal from you; a codger was a peculiar and unfashionable chap, and both were likely to be old. ‘old codger’ is most likely to be the linguistic merging of all those images.
david garrick’s farce bon ton, 1775:

“my lord’s servants call you an old out-of-fashion’d codger.”
usually following the word “old”;
a coffin dodger, an old person who moans about their arthritis. they have little hair on their head, but compensate by tufts sprouting from their ears and noses (male) chins and top lips (female).
they dispise anything that anyone under 30 may do.
cant manage to drive more than 30mph, and only drive on sundays.
look at that pair of old codgers, all they do is watch antiques roadshow and listen to gardners question time while making cups of tea every fifteen minutes.
a tender h-m-s-xual found in county dublin, ireland which originates from county cavan, ireland. a codger will refuse any banter or serious drinking sessions.
”hi derek you coming out tonight ?”

”no”

”you absolute codger”
an old man who drives at an incredibly slow speed in the middle of the road.
you codgerish ol’ b-st-rd
a mean dirty old man…..maybe you?
“argghh look at that grimy codger – is that a mirror on the bottom of his cane?”
someone like xirtamvotf
johnny was acting all codgery like xirt the other day!

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