What it means
Someone who avoids doing their share and lives off everyone else, turning up only when there’s food, beers, or freebies. You’ll hear it for dole bludgers, workplace shirkers, or that mate who never shouts a round. Can be cheeky banter, but it also lands as a proper dig when you’re sick of carrying them.
Usage examples
"He’s been crashing on Chez Dave for a month, dodging shifts, then rocks up at barbie time with an empty esky. Absolute bludger."
"There's always one bludger at the barbie who eats half the snags and never brings a thing."
"Stop being such a bludger and grab a broom, the place won't tidy itself before they arrive."
"He’s a proper bludger, that bloke. Never chips in for petrol but somehow always makes it for the beach run."
"Quit bludging and give us a hand with the boxes, mate. You’ve been standing there nursing that one beer for half an hour."
Where it comes from
Bludger came into Australian English from older British underworld slang. In the 1800s, a bludger was a parasite living off someone else, often tied to bludgeoner and pimp slang. Over time in Australia, the criminal sting wore off and it settled into the everyday jab for a lazy sponger who dodges work.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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