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:
  1. 1605-15 in an apparent variant of cage.
  2. 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.

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