Last week, I delved into the origin of the verb to badger, tracing it back to a noun meaning “trader”. Since then, I’ve uncovered more details that I wanted to share in this update. Interestingly, there are two separate verbs spelled badger, with one meaning “to haggle” and the other “to harass”. It’s believed that these verbs are not directly related, although the former may have influenced the latter’s development. The latter verb, which I didn’t touch upon in my previous post, has a dark and intriguing history. It is thought to have been coined in reference to the cruel practice of badger-baiting, a brutal blood sport where a dog would relentlessly attack a badger until it perished. Additionally, there were mentions in the seventeenth century of badgers’ tenacity to bite down on something until their teeth met, which may have also shaped the verb’s meaning.
