Word To Use Today: bludger.

Yes, a bludger really has got something to do with a bludgeon, but it doesn't actually involve hitting anyone.

A bludger, in Australia and New Zealand, is a scrounger, or someone work-shy, or someone who is supposed to be in authority but is ignored by his or her inferiors.

There's a verb, too, to bludge, which has the same sorts of meanings, but is also means to have a very easy and undemanding job.

What's the connection?

This.

Word To Use Today: bludger. A bludgeon is a club (the word appeared in the 1700s, but no one knows from where) and the verb to bludgeon means to hit someone with such a weapon. It also means to bully or coerce someone, as in she bludgeoned him into standing for election. From there, in Australia and New Zealand, this became shortened to bludge, and it then extended its meaning to include a person who ran a business hiring out women as slaves to men. From there it came to mean a scrounger, and hence acquired all its other meanings.