Wordsmith.Org

Wordsmith Talk

 About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

You are not logged in. [Log In] Wordsmith Talk » Forums » (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) » Words with unusual etymologies » highbinder
Register User    Forum List        Calendar     Active Topics     Search     FAQ
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 >
Topic Options
#124469 - 03/03/04 02:04 PM highbinder
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
Date: Fri Jul 26 00:51:18 EDT 1996
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--highbinder
high.bind.er \-.bi-n-d*r\ n [the Highbinders, gang of vagabonds in New York City ab1806] 1: a professional killer operating in the Chinese quarter of an American city
2: a corrupt or scheming politician




Top
#124470 - 03/04/04 08:25 PM Re: highbinder
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2064
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
I'm familiar with the term but anyone know where it came from? What did they bind and were there lowbinders??


Top
#124471 - 03/04/04 09:01 PM Re: highbinder
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
Dear Zed: here is a long article about the Highbinders
from Harper's Weekly of 1883 (hope I got that right).
It tells a lot about their activities, but I didn't see
a discussion of how the name "Highbinder" originated.


http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:fMpKDXlLDrUJ:immigrants.harpweek.com/ChineseAmericans/Items/Item129.htm+Chinese+criminals+highbinders&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Top
#124472 - 04/14/04 02:11 AM Re: highbinder
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2064
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
Then just last week I read a travel guide. It referred to the enforcers of the local Chinese gangs as Highbinders, so-called because they tied their pigtails up out of the way during fights.

Sorry, I don't know how to unwide this.

Top
#124473 - 04/14/04 08:00 AM Re: highbinder
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 12531
how to unwide this

It ain' your fault, Z.


Top
#124474 - 09/11/04 10:04 AM Re: highbinder
Wordwind Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 6296
Loc: Piedmont Region of Virginia, U...
Sorry, I don't know how to unwide this.

Tie up its pigtail so as to highbind its horizontal length.


Top
#124475 - 09/13/04 07:03 PM Re: unwiding
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2064
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
tee hee


Top
#124476 - 09/14/04 05:56 AM Re: unwiding
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 12531
It was wided by Dr Bill's ungeheuer long URL. The onliest thing
you can do is add your own CR-LFs when you think the line is getting
too long.


Top
#124477 - 09/14/04 07:13 PM Re: unwiding
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2064
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
I don't think I own a CR-LF and if I did I probably wouldn't want to be seen using it in public!



Top
#124478 - 09/14/04 07:39 PM Re: CR-LF
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 12531
It's right at the tip of your right little finger, Z.



Top
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 >



Forum Stats
7256 Members
16 Forums
12812 Topics
189740 Posts

Max Online: 853 @ 10/23/07 11:39 AM
Who's Online
0 registered (), 13 Guests and 35 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
Alan, jincy crow, aml, Goodspeaker, W1343
7256 Registered Users
Top Posters
wwh 13858
Faldage 12531
Jackie 10392
tsuwm 9577
Buffalo Shrdlu 6690
AnnaStrophic 6489
Wordwind 6296
of troy 5400
maverick 4683
WhitmanO'Neill 4189
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
Board Rules · Mark all read
Contact Us · Wordsmith Talk · Top

Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 2010 Wordsmith.org