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<font size=3>At 1/9/2010 10:46 PM, Baker, John wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">IIRC, Blish asserted that a
"bindlestiff" is a hobo who steals other hobos' bindles (the
bundle containing their possessions, shown in cartoons as hanging from
the end of a stick). By extension, he used "bindlestiff"
as a critical term for flying cities that rob other flying cities.
I don't know of any support for the hobo-thief meaning, though.
Other sources, including those quoted in the OED, seem to use
"bindlestiff" simply to mean a hobo who carries a
bindle.</font></blockquote><br>
Might Blish have constructed -- or misunderstood -- a connection with
"to stiff" = '3. To cheat; to refuse to pay or tip (a
person)'?<br><br>
Joel</body>
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