bemmy n.

When you want a hack letter contest—oh, my sainted big toe (left)—include us out. We get enough and run enough (yes, still) of the Bemmy things anyway.

Perhaps there is no human or Bemmy overlord in this world. [Ibid. iii. 49] He had known that the rangers were not accepted as full members of the Patrol, he also knew that there was a growing prejudice against non-human races—the ‘Bemmys’—but this raw and frightening rage directed by a crewman against his own shipmates was worse than anything he had ever dreamed possible.

‘You mean to stand there, John Andrews, and tell me that Martial dodo knows what I said?’ ‘I certainly do. Bemmies are smart, ’specially Freddie. And sensitive too. And he can tell exactly how you feel about him, even if he can’t talk.’

We gave them [i.e. played songs for them] ‘Interplanetary Heroes’ and ‘Stars I’m Coming’ and ‘My Buddy was a Bemmy’.

Makes no difference to Jordin whether it’s got two arms or ten. In his book anything not human is a bemmy. And nobody’s human whose parents didn’t come from Earth, sometime.

’Vast hauling, bemmy! Wanna snap me a spar?

Like it or not, you’re the human race’s premier diplomat when it comes to dealing with Bug Eyed Aliens. Bemmies, for short.