The origin of ‘bum’

I was asked the other week to find out the origin of the word “bum”. ‘I write a serious blog about language!’ I spluttered in indignation. But, today, bored on a lunchbreak, I decided that there’s nothing undignified in pursuing the etymological explanation of a mildly provocative expletive.

So here we go: the meaning behind the behind.

(And for any non-British readers who don’t already know, a bum is what we call a posterior, ass, arse, butt, bottom. You get the idea.)

It seems that ‘bum’ was used by none other than a Mr William Shakespeare. The passage is in Measure to Measure, when Escalus asks Pompey his surname. “Bum, Sir” replies Pompey. To which Escalus says, “Troth, and your bum is the greatest thing about you; so that in the beastliest sense you are Pompey the Great.” Hilarious.

So that’s proof that bums existed in Sheakespeare’s day. Disappointingly, my Chambers’ Dictionary of Etymology is clearly and firmly American. Hence bum only appears in the sense of a vagrant or loafer, which can be traced to the German bummeln, ‘to loaf’.

However, the Oxford English Dictionary says that bum heralds from 1387, and is “probably onomatopoeic, to be compared with other words of similar sound and with the general sense of ‘protuberance, swelling.’

Looking up bums was fun, and I’d like to do more. So every now and then I will find another word and look up its origins. It’ll probably be when I have either found a particularly delightful etymology, or when I have nothing else to blog about. And I will also take requests…

Dilemma over

Huge thanks to everyone who offered their suggestions with my what do I do with the unexpected £100 problem.

I’m not overly keen on strippers, cocaine or chocolate digestives; Pixel* can pay her own way through college; and I would only raid a karmic money box. So this is what I’ve decided to do:

• £50 for the homeless charity in Glasgow
• posh chocolates for the man and his wife
• posh meal for me and my girlfriendo

Thanks again for your help!

*Pixel is a pet African Pygmy hedgehog for those who don’t know.

David Cameron and the ‘bare knuckle fight’

So David Cameron wants a “bare knuckle fight” with Gordon Brown over the issue of hospitals. Enough of the ridiculous macho verbal foreplay wordplay – why don’t we take politicians literally for once? Brown vs Cameron in a ring – wouldn’t that be hilarious. I think a lot of people would pay a lot of money for ringside seats for that one, and maybe the money could go towards Cameron’s hospital bills. How perfectly apt.

(Disclaimer: I am by no means a GordonBrownaphile, however I do dislike the tories more than I do labour. I don’t condone violence – except when it is consenting, done for money and involves politicians.)

I say I say I say…

Here’s a geeky linguistics joke for you:

A linguistics professor was giving a lecture one day. “In English,” she said, “a double negative forms a positive. In many languages, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language in which a double positive can form a negative.”

And a voice from the back of the room muttered “Yeah, right…”

8 random things

Inspired by minxlj.tumblr.com, who was in turn inspired by Baron VC, here are 8 random and rather indulgent facts about me.

1. A year ago I took the end of a finger off while chopping vegetables (carrots I believe). I threw the tip in the bin, although my mum later told me I should’ve tried to stick it back on. It’s not nearly as bad as Minxlj’s fingertips-severed-in-folding-chair incident, but I too only have a tiny measly scar now, which is quite out of proportion to the amount of pain and blood.

2. Carrots are still my favourite vegetable.

3. I’m left handed and find it odd when other southpaws operate the mouse with their left hand.

4. I was born in Nice, France, just like the biscuits.

5. I am bilingual, one language being English, the other not being French.

6. Unlike 98% of the world, I think the new Transformers film is great.

7. My family is proof of the existence of a gay gene. On my mother’s side I have 12 cousins, so that’s 13 in the generation if you include me. Four of us are gay – 31%. And of the remaining nine, four are under the age of 15. Personally I think the real gay total is likely to get boosted to 38% sooner or later, but only time will tell.

8. I am a big fan of backgammon.

The 14th century: not the most charming age

While researching the history of town/gown problems for a feature I’m writing, I came across the website of Richard Herring (comedian of ‘Lee and Herring’ fame).

Somewhat surprisingly, he had quite a lot to say about the issue of students vs locals. And since it’s both educational and amusing I thought I should share…

“It happened on St Scholastica’s Day (February 10th) in 1354. St Scholastica (literally “she who has the leisure to study”) incidentally is the patron saint of convulsive children, nuns and storms. Her patronage also extends to being “against rain,” which seems a bit short-sighted in the long run. Sure useful for days when you’re having a barbecue, but if she proves too effective we’re all going to get a bit thirsty.

“Anyway on her day in 1354 some posh students were drinking in the Swyndlestock Tavern in Oxford and accused the landlord of serving them “indifferent wine”. The regular non-University punters of the establishment took exception to their attitude and the argument escalated into a full-blown riot. The townsfolk beat and killed the Gownsfolk and ransacked their colleges for three glorious days before order was restored.

“Nowadays, thanks to political correctness gone mad, attacking students is against the law, but I believe in honour of this historical event we should make an exception for St Scholastica’s Day. On this occasion all decent, ordinary, hard-working normal people are allowed to absent themselves from their place of labour and search out University students. If they discover any they must playfully batter them round the head with twigs, branches or iron bars, but the beating MUST STOP once the student is dead.

The only place where students might seek sanctuary from this charming tradition is within the confines of their library and even then only if they are studying within its environs. So ironically whilst everyone else gets the day off to hunt down students, St Scholistica’s Day is the only day of the year when students actually have to do any work. But as long as all the students stay in the library, the rest of us can stay in the pub with our feet up, drinking indifferent wine to our heart’s content. Sweet!”

One amazing fact I bet you didn’t know about bacteria

I’ve just eaten a yoghurt, and as usual I was absentmindedly reading every last scrap of information on the packaging. Then I read something rather odd:

This yoghurt contains the friendly bacteria HOWARU™ Bifido, exclusive to Marks & Spencer. These can benefit your overall wellbeing by maintaining a healthy and balanced digestive system, if enjoyed once a day or more. HOWARU™ is a trademark of Danisco.

The mind boggles. I’ve always been somewhat skeptical of ‘friendly bacteria’ (if they’re so friendly, why do they never smile back?) but this one actually is…

Yoghurt: HOWARU™
Me: ‘Um, I’m fine thanks. I’m going to eat you now, sorry.’

But perhaps more importantly, I never knew you could trademark a type of bacteria, friendly or otherwise, and sell it to a shop to stick in food. Did anyone else know this? Am I simply incredibly ignorant in the ways of unicellular microorganisms?

Finally I just have to say, for the sake of public service, that the yoghurt was quite disappointing. Sharp, tangy and creamy, in a not entirely pleasant way. And although there are gloriously large chunks of cherry, they’re a bit dull and tasteless.

For the sake of 49p I just hope the fancy trademarked bacteria now sitting in my belly are busy educating the frankly less impressive local bacteria in how to be more polite.