Posts by Crystal

This word is a form of bludgeoner. A bludgeoner (not surprisingly) was a person who carried a bludgeon `a short stout stick or club'. It appears in a mid-nineteenth century English slang dictionary as a term for `a low thief, who does not hesitate to use violence'.

By the end of the nineteenth century it is in use in Australia, its meaning somewhat more specific. Crowe, in his Australian Slang Dictionary (1882), defines a bludger as `a thief who will use his bludgeon and lives on the gains of immoral women'. Crowe gives: `Bludgers, or Stick Lingers, plunderers in company with prostitutes'.

Thus bludger came to mean `one who lives on the earnings of a prostitute'. It retained this meaning until the 1950s. Thus Dorothy Hewett in her play Bobbin Up (1959) writes: `But what about libel?' `There's a name for a man who lives off women!' `Can't you get pinched for calling a man a bludger?' But this meaning is now obsolete.

From the early twentieth century it moved out to be a more general term of abuse, especially as applied to a person who appears to live off the efforts of others (as a pimp lives on the earnings of a prostitute).

It was then used to refer to a person engaged in non-manual labour - a white-collar worker. This sense appears as early as 1910, but its typical use is represented by this passage from D. Whitington's Treasure Upon Earth (1957): ` "Bludgers" he dubbed them early, because in his language anyone who did not work with his hands at a laboring job was a bludger'.

And so it came to mean `an idler, one who makes little effort'. In the war newspaper Ack Ack News in 1942 we find: `Who said our sappers are bludgers?' By 1950, it could be used of animals which didn't perform up to standard. J. Cleary in Just let me be writes: `Everything I backed ran like a no-hoper. Four certs I had, and the bludgers were so far back the ambulance nearly had to bring `em home'.

And thence to `a person who does not make a fair contribution to a cost, enterprise etc.; a cadger'. D. Niland writes in The Shiralee (1955): `Put the nips into me for tea and sugar and tobacco in his usual style. The biggest bludger in the country'. In 1971 J. O'Grady writes: `When it comes to your turn, return the "shout". Otherwise the word will spread that you are a "bludger", and there is no worse thing to be'.

The term dole bludger (i.e. `one who exploits the system of unemployment benefits by avoiding gainful employment') made its first appearance in 1976, in the Bulletin: `A genuine dole bludger, a particularly literate young man ... explained that he wasn't bothering to look for work any more because he was sick and tired of being treated like a chattel'. From the following year we have a citation indicating a reaction to the use of the term: Cattleman (Rockhampton) `Young people are being forced from their country homes because of a lack of work opportunities and the only response from these so-called political protectors is to label them as dole bludgers'.

Throughout the history of the word, most bludgers appear to have been male. The term bludgeress made a brief appearance in the first decade of this century - `Latterly, bludgers, so the police say, are marrying bludgeresses' - but it was shortlived.

For more information on the word bludger consult The Australian National Dictionary.

26

JWs at Hearst Castle

by concerned mama in

jw
friends

my family and i just got home from our summer road trip.

we drove 6815 km from our home in alberta down the western coast of the us to disneyland, then back home through utah (mormon country), idaho and montana.

great trip!!!!

Crystal

I have a feeling they won't be there too much longer.

Edited by - Crystal on 25 August 2002 17:15:26

1

From Death to Diamonds

by DevonMcBride in

jw
friends

from death to diamonds

Crystal

17

Fluff about fluff (fluff)

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

so what fluff is your favorite fluff?

Crystal

17

Fluff about fluff (fluff)

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

so what fluff is your favorite fluff?

Crystal

17

Fluff about fluff (fluff)

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

so what fluff is your favorite fluff?

Crystal

3

Kidnappers under gun/Drastic actions

by Crystal in

saturday, august 24, 2002 back the halifax herald limited .

pat roque / the associated press .

government soldiers inspect different types of explosives friday on jolo island in the southern philippines.

Crystal

Saturday, August 24, 2002 Back The Halifax Herald Limited

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...
Pat Roque / The Associated Press
Government soldiers inspect different types of explosives Friday on Jolo island in the southern Philippines. Military leaders gave civilian officials five days to negotiate with the captors of four Jehovah's Witnesses.

Kidnappers under gun
Soldiers to take drastic action if talks to release hostages fail in Philippines
By The Associated Press

Jolo, Philippines - Military leaders gave civilian officials on a remote island five days to negotiate with the captors of four Jehovah's Witnesses on Friday and said they were preparing a "killer punch" if the talks fail.

Military Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu said officials from Patikul town, on the southern island of Jolo, were trying to reach the kidnappers' hideout to demand the unconditional release of the remaining hostages. Two others were beheaded.

But he said an elite, U.S.-trained military unit was flying to the island Friday to back about 6,000 soldiers already fanning out in preparation for an assault that could come any time starting early next week.

"I would like to emphasize that we're putting more muscle into this operation," said Cimatu during a visit to Jolo island, about 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Two male and four female Jehovah's Witnesses were snatched as they sold Avon cosmetics and herbal teas near Patikul on Tuesday. The men's severed heads were later found in an open-air market in Jolo town, the island's capital, with notes urging Muslims to kill Christians and Jews.

The military, police and civilian officials originally blamed the Abu Sayyaf, a radical Muslim guerrilla group targeted by a six-month U.S.-Philippine military campaign that ended three weeks ago.

The officials, who recently declared the Abu Sayyaf decimated, backtracked and now say the kidnappers are opportunistic drug addicts in the Muslim rebel stronghold of Patikul seeking quick cash.

The kidnapping has been a huge embarrassment for the military and the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Central Bank Governor Rafael Buenaventura said it largely sparked a slide in the peso to a 12-month low against the U.S. dollar Friday.

Military officials estimated about 150 Abu Sayyaf rebels are on Jolo, including dozens who fled military assaults on the nearby island of Basilan.

Those assaults, which involved 1,200 U.S. Green Beret trainers, military engineers and support staff, ended last month, although a few American soldiers stayed behind to finish infrastructure projects.

Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, head of military forces in the south, said the U.S.-trained Light Reaction Company was to fly to Jolo on Friday and provide a "killer punch" to the operation.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said reports suggested the Abu Sayyaf was involved in the kidnapping.

"The United States strongly condemns this latest terrorist atrocity by this murderous Abu Sayyaf group," Reeker said.

The Abu Sayyaf has often kidnapped for ransom, but more frequently has abducted poor Filipinos, mostly Christians, for slave labour. Kidnapped women are sometimes forced to marry guerrillas. All four remaining hostages are female.

On May 27, 2001, Abu Sayyaf rebels raided a tourist resort and abducted three Americans and 17 Filipinos.

Days later, the gang beheaded Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif. They also beheaded several Filipino hostages.

That kidnapping saga ended on June 7 when U.S.-trained Philippine soldiers tracked down the rebels.

They rescued American missionary Gracia Burnham, but her husband Martin and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap were killed in the raid.

Edited by - Crystal on 24 August 2002 23:11:56

8

Guess who was just at the sKallyWagger's door?

by sf in

jw
friends

avon?.

hahahahahaha.

why is it they do not have the lastest magazines?

Crystal

http://www.watchtowernews.org/howto/sld001.htm