Re: RARA-AVIS: RE: RARA-AVIS "Stacked Deck"


M-T (matrxtech@sprintmail.com)
Wed, 23 Jun 1999 11:18:49 -0500


Christopher Bahn:

<<I was reading Bill Pronzini's short story "Stacked Deck" last night, and there's a sentence in there about being able to "loid" the lock on a window. It's obviously from context that he's referring to breaking in, but I was wondering about the etymology of this word. Or was it a misprint, maybe?>>

It's short for "celluloid" - a trick for sliding a piece of said material in order to unlock a door or window. Bernie Rhodenbarr uses it frequently, and Block calls it "to loid" too. I don't know how realistic the trick is.

Regards,

mt

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