Friday 3 September 2010

Victorian Slang Primer No.2 - Scroofing

Scroof. — A sponge: one who endeavours to live at other people's expense, so that he can save his own pockets.

Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1823 ed.

Scroof — to go about living with friends at their expense.

Sinks of London Laid Open, 1848 ed.

1 comment:

  1. This one is similar to our word "scrounge" and I wonder whether there is any relationship between them.

    Scroof is a fine word and I intend to adopt it forthwith!

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