"Bindlestiff" in Blish

Mon Jan 11 23:35:31 UTC 2010

Seems unlikely to me, Joel. Would you make that mistake? Of course,
what you would do says nothing about what Blish would do, but you
gnoame sane.

-Wilson

On Sun, Jan 10, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
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> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "Bindlestiff" in Blish
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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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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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