codger
/ˈkɒdʒə
/noun informal, derogatory
An elderly man: old codgers harping on about yesteryear...
- George Jackson successfully defended his seniors championship for old codgers over the age of fifty.
- Geezers and codgers well remember how the first steel shafts were painted yellow or brown to resemble hickory.
- The younger punters want to check out whether these old codgers deserve legendary status.
Origin
Mid 18th century: perhaps a variant of cadger (see cadge).
cadge from early 17th century:
The first recorded use of cadge was the English dialect sense ‘to carry about’. This was formed from the noun cadger, which had existed since the late 15th century and meant, in northern English and Scots, ‘a pedlar or dealer who travelled between town and country’. From this developed the verb sense ‘to hawk or peddle’ and eventually the modern sense, ‘to ask for something that you are not strictly entitled to’. Codger, meaning an elderly man, is probably a variant of cadger.