Word Confusion: Cadge versus Cage

Posted March 31, 2014 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
29 June 2023

I actually ran across cadge being used properly and was caught by its possible relationship to cage. No, the pronunciation isn’t alike: cadge sounds like badge — which means I’ve been pronouncing it wrong all these years — but the scary part was typing cadge into image search turned up all these pictures of birds and cages. Definitely an oh, no moment.

I suppose, on some distant planet, you could draw a parallel between a man cadging for money as his (or her) seeking to be free from whatever cage he’s trapped in. To purchase what they like . . . unfortunately, we’re on this planet, and we’ll just have to suck it up.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Cadge	Cage
Black Bear Begging at Car in Traffic Jam, photographed, I think, by R Robertson, is courtesy of the National Parks Gallery is under the Public Domain Mark 1.0 license, via Picryl. — It’s difficult to say no to a bear cadging at your car window.	Canard Barbarie Cage by L214 – Ethique & Animaux is under the CC BY 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Noun ¹; Verb ², intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: cadges Gerund: cadging Third person present verb: cadges Past tense or past participle: cadges Present participle: cadging	Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun: cages Gerund: caging Third person present verb: cages Past tense or past participle: caged Present participle: caging
Noun: [Falconry] A frame on which hawks are carried to the field ¹ Verb, intransitive: To ask, expect, or encourage another person to pay for or provide one’s drinks, meals, etc. ² [British] A person who asks, expects, or encourages another person to pay or provide for them [British; informal; on the cadge] Engaged in asking, expecting, or encouraging someone else to pay their way Verb, transitive: To obtain by imposing on another’s generosity or friendship ² To borrow without intent to repay To beg or obtain by begging [Slang] To sponge off someone	Noun: A structure of bars or wires in which birds or other animals are confined Prison cell or camp Open framework forming the compartment in an elevator Structure of crossing bars or wires designed to hold or support something [Baseball] A portable backstop situated behind the batter during batting practice [In hockey and other games] A goal made from a network frame [Mining] An enclosed platform for raising and lowering people and cars in a mine shaft An indoor athletic facility with areas fenced off for security [As modifier] Cagebird A thing or place that confines or imprisons Something resembling a cage in function or structure Verb: Usually be caged Confine in or as in a cage [Informal] Put in prison [Sports] To shoot (as a puck) into a cage so as to score a goal
Examples:
Noun: He’s on the cadge, that one. Verb, intransitive: Ya gotta watch Henry. He’s always cadging off his friends. Polly is cadging again. Verb, transitive: Can I cadge a free cup of coffee? He cadged a ride into town. Mary cadges drinks at the bar. He was cadging money on the street. Lydia cadged a dollar for the parking meter. He was hoping to cadge the bus fare Polly cadged a meal from a friend.	Noun: Perry hates to see animals in cages. John is trapped in his cage of loneliness. She kept a canary in a cage. Oh, man, his rib cage is torn wide open. He’s a sneaky old cagebird. Verb: Many animals are caged. He got the lion caged, and we all breathed easier. The parrot screamed, furious at being caged. Listen to the caged bird sing.
Derivatives:
Noun: cadger	Adjective: caged, cageless, cagelike Verb, transitive: recage, recaged, recaging
History of the Word:
1605-15 in an apparent variant of cage. 1275-1325; perhaps to be identified with Middle English caggen meaning to tie, which is of uncertain origin. Back-formation from the Scots cadger meaning carrier, huckster from the Middle English cadgear	Middle English via the Old French from the Latin cavea.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Cadge versus Cage

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: cadge

Grabas, Kim. “The Writer’s Weekly Wrap-Up (Issue #20).” Your Writer Platform. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.yourwriterplatform.com/writers-weekly-wrap-20/>r;.

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Hopeful Dogs at a Shelter is in the public domain, via Pxfuel.