Scrooge
The miserly, joyless tightwad โ and, by the end of the story, the cautionary tale of one.
Origin
Ebenezer Scrooge is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843). A wealthy London moneylender who hoards his cash and despises Christmas ('Bah, humbug'), he is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his old partner Marley and three spirits โ Past, Present, and Yet to Come โ who show him his lonely life and worse death. He wakes a generous man. The novella effectively invented the modern Christmas.
Modern usage
'A Scrooge' is anyone notably stingy, especially around generosity or holidays. 'Bah, humbug' is the seasonal disclaimer of choice for anyone over the gift economy. The redemption arc is so familiar that 'Scrooge story' = any miser-turned-good narrative.
In the wild
Don't be a Scrooge โ chip in for the gift.โ common office usage
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