He considered Sadler's Wells to be a worthy organisation, but also "dowdy" and "stodgy". "Fuddy-duddy" is often used to refer to a man perceived as stodgy or foolish. Despite his temperamental and stodgy nature, Londo himself is largely devoid of malice. Some subsist on a diet of crisps or stodgy food. On the other hand, literary critic Janet Maslin criticized McLain's Richardson as "a stodgy bore". Inevitably, Daly and students clash with the stodgy professor. The "trophy" wife of a stodgy man of wealth yearns for a more interesting life. By this time, Van der Bijl's reputation for stodgy batting was well in the past. This actor's delight in cutting loose infectiously mirrors his character's liberation from his stodgy self. The paper suffered many teething problems, coming under fire for being "too serious and stodgy". At that time Pontiac had a reliable but stodgy image.