I don't think this informal UK English word has crossed The Pond yet. Chugger is a blend of charity and mugger. It's applied to someone who ambushes pedestrians in town and city centres and uses hard-sell to get them to sign a direct debit to make regular donations to the charity they represent.

They are usually students looking for beer money and hunt in packs of about half a dozen, making it difficult to walk along some streets without being accosted by at least one chugger. Most people have their own views about charitable donations and don't appreciate being badgered, especially as they are often on their way to or from work.

Although the "old-style" charity collectors who rattle a collecting-box are generally met with approval, a lot of people also object to the fact that the charities pay most of the chuggers, rather than rely on volunteers.

There's a little more at Wiktionary.

I had not yet heard the term, arnie. But it probably won't be long before the practice reaches the States if not the term.

I hadn't heard the word, either. I've found it at Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, dictionary.com (bottom of the page), Macmillan Dictionary, Word Spy, and Wikipedia. It started out as a negative term coined in 2002 in the UK by journalist Keith Barker-Main for the Metro free newspaper, but has become more of a neutral term, according to a press release by PFRA (Public Fundraising Regulatory Association). It has only become widespread since 2009.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

New to me too. Heretofore I've only heard the term as it relates to one who pours large quantities of alcoholic beverages down his gullet.

We certainly have them around; we just don't call them chuggers. I consider the Greenpeacers among them, though there are lots more. These chuggers stand on the street with their clipboards and harass you to stop, listen to their spiel, and then of course to donate. If you choose not to donate (it could be due to time or money constraints or maybe it's not the charity of your choice), they make you feel like you're a tight-fisted, selfish jerk.

quote:

has become more of a neutral term, according to a press release by PFRA (Public Fundraising Regulatory Association).

The PFRA may try to portray it in a positive light, but I believe most Britons think of chuggers as pests.

This is a classic example of trying to turn a pejorative term into a neutral one by taking the word and using it themselves. I'm no statistician but I'll bet that in their figures that purport to prove that it's nowadays a neutral term there's some glaring error.