bendy wire

[Victor Steinbok]

Watching yet another one of those BBC murder-mystery series (this one of
a fairly recent vintage--only about 6 years old), I heard one character
say to the other, "Would you hand over some bendy wire." Being an
opportunist, I thought, I'd look it up, because it sounded as if, in
this particular case, it had a narrower meaning than the two words might
otherwise suggest.

A couple of uses of "bendy" strike me a close to universal, although
"bendy bus" (single word, two-word or hyphenated) is more British, than
US, while "bendy straw" is rather global. But "bendy wire"?

A quick OneLook check showed nothing unusual. No entries for "bendy
wire", but that's not surprising--most OneLook dictionary lookups do not
cover phrases, unlike the OED. But plenty of hits on Google for "bendy
wire"--in both senses. First, a wire that is very flexible, capable of
bending. The second, a wire that is already shaped with many
bends--seems more likely to refer to a zigzag pattern than to an
ordinary paperclip. Wiki has "bendy straw", but not as a mane entry--it
links to "Drinking straw". The same is true for "bendy
bus"--"Articulated bus" in Wikipedia (there is a "bendy bus" entry in
Wiktionary). FarLex gives "Gelenkbus" for "bendy bus", but clicking on
the "Gelenkbus" link gives "Articulated bus". "Bendibus" was apparently
the original trademark on articulated buses when they first appeared in
the UK (Sheffiled, 1980s, if Wiki is to be believed). Unsurprisingly,
the OED has a bendy bus entry. But not for bendy straw or bendy wire.

What's worse, there appears to be no entry for bendy, adj. Well, not
quite. There is a bendy adj.1 that applies in heraldry, but I could not
find bendy, adj.2 or any other entry for "bendy" that was in any way
related to things that bend (or are bent). I find that very puzzling,
particularly in light of the bendy, adj.1 entry that presupposes another.

If this mystery can be solved, I'd like to know the result.

Oh, as for the bendy wire, that was the reference to wire hangers for
Christmas tree decorations--a task that is often reserved for ordinary
paperclips in the US.

Bendy (both meanings--things that bend and things that are bent) should
be in the OED. So should bendy straw. The jury on bendy wire is still
out--although if simple bendy is there, it might be sufficient.

     VS-)

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