Elide

elide
verb, transitive. To omit a sound or syllable when speaking. To join together; to merge. Elide is most frequently used as a term to describe the way that some sounds or syllables are dropped in speech, for example in contractions such as "I'll" or "he's." The result of such an omission is that the two surrounding syllables are merged; this fact has given rise to a new sense, with the meaning "join together" or "merge."

Even after working with him for months, she still had to concentrate to translate Donnie's speech into standard English. Part of the problem was her own diminished hearing. Part of it was his dense, down-home Oklahoma accent. Part of it was the way he elided words that were not contractions when uttered by any other person. The fact that such garbled language could emerge from someone so knowledgable about horses and horse racing was a continual marvel to her. She accepted it as a unique trait and appreciated the knowledge that he distributed every time he entered the room where she worked. He inhabited a different world than she did, and she knew she would never be able to find a place in his. All she could do was listen to him, ask questions, and learn about it.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Dally

dally
verb, intransitive. To act or move slowly. To have a casual romantic or sexual liaison with someone. To show a casual interest in something, without committing oneself seriously.

Donna could not understand why her mother was always in a hurry--never enjoying the sights and activities that were always going on around them, everywhere they went. Donna could not get enough of this big, delightful world. Now was a great example. When her mother slowed to survey a store's window display, she let go of Donna's hand and Donna leapt at the opportunity to look at something she had noticed down the sidewalk the way they had come: a man playing a guitar and singing on the sidewalk. His guitar case was open on the pavement beside him, and coins lay scattered on the red felt lining.

Donna approached, drawn both by the music and by the bright coins reflecting the mid-morning sunlight. She couldn't decide which was more intriguing: the man's animated face, his robust, deep voice, or the gleaming money--so close to her own hands, so available.

The music won. Donna stood transfixed as the singer launched into an exuberant chorus, the dancing notes his fingers struck transforming into a rhythmic strumming. Her reverie was suddenly broken when her harried mother grabbed her hand and yanked, wrenching Donna's shoulder.

"Why must you dally like this?" Her mother cried, oblivious to the annoyed look the singer and another adult gave her. "You know I'm in a hurry."

Donna had no choice but to hurry herself, running to keep up with her mother's strides, while looking back at the guitar player over her shoulder, wishing she could stay and listen to the entire song, then listen to the next.

"Someday," she told herself as she jogged and stumbled, almost dragged by the hand, "someday I'll be big and I can stop and listen to the music and look at everything I want. Then, I'll be happy. Not like Mother."

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Cadge

cadge
verb, transitive. To ask for or obtain something to which one is not strictly entitled.

Jill parked her tray on the bar and mopped it as she waited for Caleb to approach so she could relay her drink orders. Things were slow for 5:15 on a Friday. They'd pick up soon. "They'd better," she mused. Her rent was due in three days and she needed tips.

Caleb was taking his time. He had turned from the cooler door at the far end of the bar to chat with one of the regulars perched on a stool there. Jill watched them, calculating. He would be a minute or two, she judged, and since Donnie wasn't here yet....

She dug in her apron for the pack and extracted a cigarette. She dropped her eyes and studied it as she flicked her lighter. She usually refrained from smoking on the job, but things really were slow, except for the order for that one booth she still hadn't given to Caleb. She glanced at its occupants. They were deep in conversation, leaning toward each other. She wondered what their story was. Businessmen cobbling up a deal? Drug dealers? With a mental shrug, she turned back to the mirror behind the bar and watched herself take a couple of drags. As usual, the act calmed her, but the clock in her head never stopped for long. She dropped the cigarette into the spool-shaped snuffer in the staff ashtray.

"Caleb?" she called. He was talking and didn't respond. She wished she hadn't put the cigarette out and took a deep breath.

Just then the street door opened and admitted a husky woman. When Jill recognized her, she groaned aloud. Marci. Marci, the trainee barmaid, whose customers complained about her body odor, and who couldn't seem to understand that her homeliness was the reason her tips were so meager. Marci, who would spend the rest of the shift cadging Jill's cigarettes, explaining that she needed to smoke so she could get her weight down. Jill's enthusiasm for the evening's work evaporated. She rarely reacted to people this way, but she had developed a strong dislike for Marci after working with her for only one night.

"Caleb!" she barked. "Order up!"

He didn't linger with the regular, but spun on a toe and headed toward her. "I heard you the first time," he remarked testily. "What's the rush? I saw you light up." Then he noticed Marci and his gaze flicked to Jill's face. She thought she read sympathy there. She hoped so. She needed it.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Badger

badger
verb, transitive. To ask someone repeatedly and annoyingly for something; to pester. Also, a noun.

He recoiled from the odor of alcohol on Frank's breath and studied his son's face. Yes, the young man wore that slightly silly grin Mark had noticed every time Frank had been drinking in secret. Mark started to speak, then paused. How much and how often could he badger Frank about this before Frank's ability to listen simply shut down?

"Maybe I'm too close to him to get through to him," Mark thought. "Maybe I should be dragging him to AA meetings instead." The idea elicited a chuckle. Frank outweighed him by a minimum of thirty pounds. Dragging him anywhere would be a brief exercise, at best. "I don't even know where to find an AA meeting," he continued silently. Mark had quit drinking without the support system afforded by Alcoholics Anonymous. He had done so by recognizing that he would die if he didn't. Die sick and alone, after losing his good job and probably all his friends. After his boss had approached him and delivered an ultimatum, he had never taken another drink again. He talked to Sherry about his decision and asked her for her support. He suffered through three days of cravings and strange dreams--near-nightmares--then realized that he was beginning to feel better, and feel better about himself, than he had in a long time. He had never been tempted to drink again after that.

Frank had been too young when Mark quit to recall his father's behavior when he drank, but Frank had evidently inherited the tendency to be an alcoholic. Mark knew he had to figure out some way of helping his son, if he didn't want to lose him.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.