codger

old codger

An affectionate or playfully derisive term for a cantankerous, eccentric old man. My grandpa is such an old codger, but we all love his gruff ways.
See also: codger, old
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

old codger/coot/fogy

Unflattering names for an elderly man. Old codger, dating from the mid-1700s, may imply that he is testy or crusty, whereas old coot, from the mid-1800s, indicates he is silly or ignorant. As for an old fogy, he may be hidebound in tradition. None of these is a desirable epithet, or, as Terrel Bell put it, “There’s only one thing worse than an old fogy, and that’s a young fogy” (commencement address at Longwood College, Virginia, June 17, 1985). A newer and decidedly vulgar synonym is old fart, dating from the first half of the 1900s. Phil Donahue said it of himself on his NBC television show in 1992: “I didn’t always look like an old fart like this.”
See also: codger, coot, fogy, old
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • old codger
  • old cobber
  • make old bones
  • an old fogey/fogy
  • fogey
  • fogy
  • old fogey
  • old fogy
  • old codger/coot/fogy
  • better be an old man's darling than a young man's slave
References in periodicals archive
Method In Madness, Mr Moondance, Crafty Codger and Meihua will carry more than that.
'Myamo has squeak if handling surface'
And, wonder of wonders, it turns out that this cranky codger, worn down with decades of care and frustration, still has dreams and hopes, and is willing to take some extraordinary risks to go after them.
Up
"Codger Ball" - weekly drop-in volleyball and basketball for all ages - also begins tonight from 7:30 p.m.
BRIEFLY
Completed about a year ago and officially named the Codger Pole in dedication ceremonies, the creation is the largest chainsaw sculpture of human likenesses in the world, according to LaBenne.
The Codger Pole
Back in January, after four days of experiencing a pain in my left leg that I thought came from stretching while painting my bathroom, I finally faced my GP to inquire on a remedy for this old codger so I could continue my decorating activities and put a smile on the face of my better half.
Dark days showed the strength and depth of the NHS team; Yousay IN YOUR OPINION..
Oxford's best chance of a win seems to lie with Richard Baker's OLD CODGER who tackles the Puppy event at 4.04.
Swindon can seal deal but Amy set to cheer locals
Havers is being revealed to be the most curmudgeonly old codger imaginable.
Who'd be your jungle chum? Lembit or moaner Nigel?
At the risk of sounding like an old codger, I feel duty bound to make the following comment: "They don't make 'em like they used to."
Stroll up Dale's memory lane
LINE OF DEFENCE Codger's Fort at Rothbury, built in 1769 for Sir Walter Calverley Blackett, cannot have been so perfectly captured by a photographer as it has been here by reader James Thow of Chapel Park, Newcastle.
VIEW OF THE NORTH
Sources say that Joel, 60, was just too much of a codger for his 27-year-old wife.
Age gap may have led to Billy Joel-Katie Lee split
Wheelchair-bound George Greenhalgh, 84 - dubbed the "artful codger" - was given a two-year suspended jail sentence at Bolton Crown Court.
Artful codger escapes jail; COURT
AFTER ENJOYING THEIR MUSIC back home in Blighty, I got ahold of some more of their charged sounds, provoking misty-eyed reminiscences of Killing Joke and Gang of Four for this old codger. I'm looking forward to seeing them in concert, as long as they're not on too late or too loud.
Operatic: "we've done the music in parts for Chris Senn, Tom Penny, Jeremy Wray, Darren Navarrette and like 20 others ..."
You might think that a magazine in its 96th year, put out by an association in its 116th, would be well into its dotage, doddering around like an old codger revelling in long-past successes.
Our biggest magazine ever
In 2012 old codger Engelbert Humperdinck finished 247 points behind a bunch of Russian grannies.
DEADWOOD JEDWARD
Gradually a rapport develops between the pair and when Frank discovers Robot has not been programmed to obey the law, the wily old codger begins a new life of crime with his android partner.
Robot sinner a real winner; NOW SHOWING