Posted by Jonathan Labaree on October 20, 2003 at 20:46:53 from 207.5.234.19 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Re: inspiration for "duffer"? posted by Jon on October 20, 2003 at 20:39:43:
I wasn't trying to suggest that AR had never heard of the word before reading Childers, or that Childers coined it. It's interesting to hear it refers to all sorts of clumsy folks and not limited to marine uses.
I was thinking more along Andrew's lines that perhaps AR subconsciously used the word. I was even wondering if was more of a conscious reference, but its general use would seem to rule that out.