Back-formation frombludger.
bludge (uncountable)
- (Australia, New Zealand, slang) The act of bludging.
2007, Anne Barry,Playing with Fire[1], page136:A friend offered him a job working as a handyman in his carpet factory – a Mr Fix-it. Effectively off thebludge and back on track.
- (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Easywork, especially asubject atschool that requires little effort.
- Synonym:doddle
1997, Wendy Morgan,Critical Literacy in the Classroom: The Art of the Possible[2], page145:Oh, my name is Gecko and I just thought the whole unit was abludge, sometimes it got really boring. But like I said I could just fall asleep and let my group members do all the work. And still almost pass.
2011, Irini Savvides,Sky Legs[3]:‘Seriously, you′ve got sheep at school?’ I said.
‘Yeah, heaps of kids here do Ag. Reckon it′s a bigbludge, like drama.’
bludge (third-person singular simple presentbludges,present participlebludging,simple past and past participlebludged)
- (Australia, obsolete, slang) To live off the earnings of aprostitute.
- (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To notearn one's keep, to live off someone else or off welfare when one could be working.
- Synonyms:freeload,sponge
- (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Toavoid one'sresponsibilities; to leave it to others to perform duties that one is expected to perform.
- Synonym:shirk
1999, Tony Shillitoe,Joy Ride[4], page64:The second last Thursday in first term of Year Nine, Jason and Ibludged school for the first time together. It wasn't Jason's first time. Hebludged school regularly, but I never used to miss days unless I was really sick.
2002,Donald Friend, edited by Anne Gray,The Diaries of Donald Friend, volume 1,page343:One of the mess orderlies had consistentlybludged on the rest of us all day.
- (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To do nothing, to beidle, especially when there is work to be done.
- Synonyms:idle,laze,lounge
1967,New Zealand House of Representatives,Parliamentary Debates[5], page3164:We had the member for Piako saying as recently as last year, when dealing with social security benefits and increases, “I feel myself that when we have able-bodied men and women who wouldbludge and draw the pension, there is something wrong.”
1998, Marion Halligan, Rosanne Fitzgibbon,The gift of story: Three decades of UQP short stories,page96:Now, you get back out there and youbludge! I don't want to see anyone working, OK? I don't want to see any pick-axes, any hammers, or nothing.
2004, John Smyth, Robert Hattam,et al.,‘Dropping Out,’ Drifting Off, Being Excluded: Becoming Somebody Without School,page53:I mean, school′s like a job. If you work for it you get your grades; if you work your hours you get your money. But if you bludge, you don't get money; if youbludge you don't get any grades. That's something that I didn't realize when I was young.
- (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To take somebenefit and give nothing in return.
- Synonyms:cadge,scrounge
Can Ibludge a cigarette off you?
1983,Max Harris,The Unknown Great Australian and other psychobiographical portraits[6], page105:Gabriel was a classic bludger. He was a drop-out in the very modern sense of the word. The Rossettis were anything but well-heeled. Solid old brother William kept the show on the road. Gabrielbludged on the family. Hebludged on his mates.
2004, Gillian Cowlishaw,Blackfellas, Whitefellas, and the Hidden Injuries of Race[7], page135:Now an adult with his own family, this man has become conscious of different norms among his children's white friends, and that whites often see sharing asbludging.
to live off the generosity of someone else
