Sunday, April 23, 2006
amazing, educational yet hilarious conversation:
renata: i'm looking at america:the book again, and when you get a chance you should look at page 122
renata: it's the one with fake historical campaign memorabilia
renata: and there's a "re-elect herbert hoover" hobo stick!!
renata: except it calls it a "bindle" not a hobo stick
renata: so i wonder if "bindle" is the official name of "hobo stick"
kait: I'd like to think that "bindle" is like a brand name.
kait: There are regular hobo sticks, but anybody who's anybody uses BINDLES.
renata: hahaha
renata: it's like a bundle... but differently spelled
kait: I so need to just... make one and carry it around isntead of a purse.
renata: i'm looking up bindle in the oed. the first definition is: ‘The cord or rope that binds anything, whether made of hemp or of straw.’ Jamieson.
renata: oh, here we go. definition #2: a. A bundle containing clothes and possessions, esp. a bedding-roll carried by a tramp. Hence bindle-man, -stiff, a tramp who carries such a bundle.
renata: 1900 ‘FLYNT’ Itinerant Policeman 167 Among the ‘Bindle Men’, ‘Mush Fakers’, and ‘Turnpikers’ of the middle West, the East, and Canada, there exists a crude system of marking ‘good’ houses. 1901 J. LONDON Let. 6 Dec. (1966) 126 Wyckoff only knows the workingman, the stake-man, and the bindle-stiff. 1925 Forum Aug. 232 Carrying his ‘bindle roll’ or roll of blankets on his back, he is prepared to make his home wherever night finds him. Ibid. 235 Bindle stiff, a western hobo, who carries his blankets in a roll or bindle.
renata: 1927 Glasgow Herald 24 July 8 In his stride he took almost all the experiences that can befall bums, bindle stiffs.. and all other variously designated knights of the moonlight. 1937 J. STEINBECK Of Mice & Men 4 George unslung his bindle and dropped it gently on the bank. 1952 {emem} East of Eden vii. 46 Before he knew it he was a bindlestiff himself.
renata: and finally, it can also mean: b. Any package or bundle, spec. one containing narcotics (see quot. 1923).
kait: Bindlestiff, amazing!
renata: bindlestiff is almost as awesome of a word as hobo
kait: So if we start using the world "bindle" all the time, no one will know if we're hobos or drug smugglers! We'll have an air of mystery.
renata: i need to go update my lj user info so that everyone will know i'm interested in bindles and bindlestiffs
renata: yeah! or we could also be talking about ropes.
kait: Yes! We're awesome at deciving people about... hobos.
kait: or should I say BINDLESTIFFS.
renata: yeah. so anyway, i was tying up my bindle with a bindle.
renata: and then all the opium fell out of my bindle.
renata: it was sooo crazy!
kait: Man, it certainly sounds crazy! Did the other bindlestiffs stop bindling their bindles when they saw the drugs that fell out of your bindle?
renata: yeah, the other bindlestiffs were all like "whoa, good job bindling your bindle! not!" but then i hit them with the stick of my bindle to keep them from taking the drugs that fell out of my bindle.
in conclusion... bindles.
posted by ~renata~ at 12:38 PM
(2) commented with care
