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In "The Star Fraction" by Ken MacLeod, a Scottish science fiction author, a couple walks through a street and past a "trodie". The novel is set in Britain, so it may be a British expression. The street is in a future London.

Full sentence:

"Jordan took her elbow and ostentatiously steered her past the trodie collapsed in the doorway of a Help the Waged charity shop."

Googling the expression didn't help. I can't find any reference to it in Cambridge.

It is the only occurence in the book (Kindle Edition) and after the scene there is no further reference to the word. It's not crucial to the plot, I'm just curious what it means.

user 99572 is fine
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    If it is British, it has certainly passed me by all my life. Never heard of it, I'm afraid. – WS2 May 06 '16 at 08:26
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    @ws2 It may be Scottish, since the author is a Scotsman. – user 99572 is fine May 06 '16 at 08:46
  • This Scottish Language, education website certainly does not recognise the word. – WS2 May 06 '16 at 09:04
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    Given that the book is Science Fiction, and set in a version of Britain rather than Britain as it is (as far as I can gather online), it is possible that the author has invented his own slang. I would suggest that finding online forums where the novel is being discussed might yield the best results. – Spagirl May 06 '16 at 09:16
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    I've just sent the Autor a Tweet, maybe he'll explain. – user 99572 is fine May 06 '16 at 09:26
  • There seems to be some punning here. The British charity referred to is actually called "Help the Aged" not "Help the Waged". I can't guess a derivation of Trodie though. – alephzero May 06 '16 at 14:55
  • Since we now have the definitive answer this is probably irrelevant (or subconscious imitation?) - but the urban dictionary gives "troddy" as an insult. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troddy – alephzero May 06 '16 at 20:32
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    I suspect this should be another query to @KenMacLeod, but I'll take a guess that the dark-humored joke here is that in this version of Britain having a job which only pays wages (without other benefits, such as health care, and I don't know what all else) leaves the recipients of those wages too poor to afford many of the basics of life, let alone the luxuries. I guess I'm kind of thinking of something along the lines of the Pohl/Kornbluth collaboration "The Space Merchants" - which, by the by, seems to be more and more prophetic as time passes. – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні May 07 '16 at 02:31

3 Answers3

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It's a word I made up! It's for someone who habitually electrically stimulates the brain's pleasure centres via an implanted electrode. (Like 'wirehead' in some stories by Larry Niven.)

Ken MacLeod
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    I love it when his happens on StackExchange. I'm very glad @user99572isfine contacted you on Twitter and you took the time and effort to respond here. What could be more authoritative? Thank you. – Dan Bron May 06 '16 at 12:33
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    Ahh... 'trode being short for electrode. Therefore the pronounciation would rhyme with toadie and not toddy. – Todd Wilcox May 06 '16 at 16:30
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    Lolz, awesome moment of the day. Welcome to the site, Sir. – Mindwin Remember Monica May 06 '16 at 18:01
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    Thanks for your answer, but do you have a source? – BruceWayne May 06 '16 at 21:08
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    It's also cool that Ken is already part of the StackExchange community. If he wasn't, then he'd have only 1 rep instead of 276. In our pretty tightly connected world, we can pretty much talk to anyone, anywhere. It's pretty sweet, but a very cool reply by the actual author! – Clomp May 07 '16 at 07:45
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    @Clomp I thought the same thing at first, but it looks like all his rep has come from just this answer - take a look at his badges ;) Not bad for a new user hey! – Tim Malone May 08 '16 at 20:17
  • Well, he spelled "centers" correctly for a Scot. Its a fake account, I appreciate the attention to detail. – T.E.D. May 08 '16 at 21:32
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    @T.E.D. eh? https://twitter.com/amendlocke/status/728520953462988800 – Martin Smith May 09 '16 at 10:17
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It isn't a word in normal use; clearly invented to add some 'local colour' to the book. If I had to guess, I would say that the unconscious down-and-outs in this (Scottish?) street have overdosed not on Special Brew but on electric current passed through their electrodes.

Tim Lymington
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    Might be useful to explain that 'Special Brew' is a brand of cheap-ish, strong, lager and that it is the archetypal beverage of street drinkers in the UK. – Spagirl May 06 '16 at 09:30
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    Wow, three hours before the author, nice... – AbraCadaver May 06 '16 at 19:39
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    "...the unconscious down-and-outs in this (Scottish?) street have overdosed not on Irn-Bru but on electric current...". Fixed that for you. ;) – Dɑvïd May 08 '16 at 14:28
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    @Davïd: The only way Irn-Bru can cause you to pass out is by hitting you on the head (since everyone knows it's made from girders) – Tim Lymington May 08 '16 at 18:40
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The sentence is:

Jordan took her elbow and ostentatiously steered her past a trodie who'd collapsed in the doorway of a Help the Waged charity shop.

From the context, my only guess is a word built on the past form (trod) of tread, a person who walked along waiting for charity and just fell here.

Side note: at first I though a letter was missing. "Artrodie" is an old word referring to a type of joint or articulation (in the elbow context).

Laurent Duval
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