scunge

English

Etymology

Probably related to scrounge.

Pronunciation

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Noun

scunge (countable and uncountable, plural scunges)

1. (uncountable, slang) Muck, scum, dirt, dirtiness; also used attributively.
   • 1986, Gary Crew, The Inner Circle, unnumbered page:

     Every saucepan he owned was piled there, caked with unidentifiable scunge.

   • 1994, Tim Winton, The Riders, Picador 1996 UK Paperback edition, Ch.8, p.43:

     In two mad days Scully painted out the whole interior in lime wash, and the place suddenly seemed brighter, bigger, cleaner, and so strangely wholesome that it made him realize how foul it had been before, what scunge he'd really been dealing with day and night.

   • 2005, David Meurer, If You Want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen, page 67:

     We asked questions like, “Do you think we can take a blowtorch to burn that green scunge out of the refrigerator without wrecking the insulation?”

   • 2006, Kate Holden, In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction, page 130:

     Fitzroy was the across-the-river equivalent of St Kilda. Another ragged, working-class suburb that had become bohemian and then been discovered and slicked up. There was plenty of scunge left, however; in the back streets the smell of dope wafted from the houses.

2. (countable, slang) A scrounger; one who habitually borrows.
3. (countable, slang) A dirty or untidy person; one who takes no pride in their appearance.
   • 2008, Pam Withers, Mountainboard Maniacs, page 120:

     “You four scunges need to clean yourselves up,″ Jarrad announced — ironic given his own personal hygiene, Jake thought, which was less than impeccable.

4. (countable, slang, derogatory) A scoundrel; a worthless or despicable person.
   • 1966, Comment: A New Zealand Quarterly Review, volume 8, page 14:

     The press officer was glad to get me onto the helicopter back to the airbase, as he obviously thought I must be a bit of a scunge asking political questions, when it was my job to report on how well the war was going and how the North was being held.

Synonyms

• (muck): grime, muck, scum, gunge
• (scrounger): bludger
• (dirty or untidy person; one who takes no pride in their appearance): dag
• (scoundrel): scoundrel

Related terms

• scungy

Verb

scunge (third-person singular simple present scunges, present participle scunging or scungeing, simple past and past participle scunged)

1. To mark with scunge; to begrime or besmirch.
   • 2002, Dennis McDougal, Mary Murphy, Blood Cold: Fame, Sex, and Murder in Hollywood, page 79:

     “I was scunged. ... I hated myself, hated everything, felt useless and worthless, had no friends, no love, no career, no education, no parents and no tomorrows. It all added up to nothing.”

2. To slink about; to sneak, to insinuate.
   • 1846, author not visible, The Disruption: A Scottish Tale of Recent Times, R. M. Walker (printer), Edinburgh, page 341,

     Neither will ye scunge after the gentry like M′Quirkie, and keep your creed in your hand ready to swap it for ony ither that may happen to be mair profitable.

   • 1948, Old Edinburgh Club, The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, volume 26, page 38:

     Seizing him in his arms he ran into a shop, and seizing a coil of rope, measured off five or six yards, and fastening this round the dog′s neck, set him down, and giving him a few hearty kicks — ‘Hame wi′ you, ye scunging tyke, hame!’ and thus discovered the laird′s dwelling-place.

   • 2011, C. J. Bull, When The Spirit Calls, page 79:

     Each time he moved, the old dog that lay along his side would groan, complaining at its disturbance until Charlie's fingers scunged into the German shepherd′s long hair reassuring him with his familiar fussing.

3. To scrounge; to borrow.
   • 1980, Victorian Parliament, Parliamentary debates (Hansard), volume 353, page 1449:

     The Australian Labor Party in Victoria had a very successful result. Members of the National Party are scunging around trying to win Ballarat!

   • 2011, Nichola Garvey, Beating the Odds, HarperCollins Australia, unnumbered page,

     ‘ […] My business does all the work, and you want to come and scunge a market off me and don′t even have a bet? […] ’