Words
Sir: I was interested to see in your issue of January 18 that Larry Adler, in his book review, used the word "gunser to convey the meaning of a hired gunman or assassin. The only other time I've seen the word used was in Lilian Hellman's autobiography. There she claimed that Dashiell Hammett exasperated by the meddling of an ignorant but meddlesome editor, used the word "gunsel" in an article with the hope that the editor would ascribe Mr Adler's meaning to it. So it proved – although, according to Miss Hellman, the true meaning of the word is catamite, or the object of a pederast's sexual attentions. My Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary gives no meaning for the
word. Who then, is right – Mr Adler or Miss Hellman? If the latter, Mr Adler 's book review has perhaps a greater comic value than he supposed or intended.
Hugh Farquharson
36 Beaconsfield Place, Aberdeen.
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