Busking and panhandling: all the same to the almsgiver?

[poche]

What is busking?

 

[Welshrabbit]

It sounds like a weird sport they would play in an exotic location like Canada…

 

[blackforest]

Begging is working.

 

[BoskoBadovnic]

What is busking?

busking /ˈbəskiNG/ noun, the activity of playing music in the street or another public place for voluntary donations. E.g. “Years of busking had taught him how to hold a crowd.”

I recall an old saying with some modification: “If you define a word to a man, he has learned the meaning of that word. If you show him Google, he will learn the meaning of many words.”

 

[ShrodingersCat]

In my experience, this is largely untrue, busking is used by musicians to supplement their income or, if they are lucky, as the sole source of their income. They have chosen that “career”, just like another person might decide to open a flower shop. You are no more obliged to give to buskers any more than you are obliged to buy flowers from every sole trader flower shop you walk past.