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bummer

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Pronunciation

bummer1 loafer, idler

Etymology

The word for a loafer is probably borrowed from German Bummler (“loafer, vagrant”),[2][3][4][5] an agent noun from bummeln (“to stroll, dawdle, loaf”).[3][4][2] The OED calls the German origin apparent, and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English only possible;[5][6][7] the OED dates the German noun, meaning an unemployed person or vagrant, to 1848.[5] Weekley says it was originally German student slang.[8] Etymonline thinks it might be an extension of the British bum, backside, but more probably German, since the earliest uses imitate the English of German immigrants in the United States.[4] According to Kluge, as cited by Etymonline, the German verb dates from the 17th century, first meant to swing back and forth, and is perhaps connected with baumeln (“to dangle”);[4] Dictionary.com calls it an expressive verb of uncertain origin.[3] Schele De Vere's “Americanisms” (1872), quoted by Green's Dictionary of Slang, already derived the word from the German.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A vagrant or loafer who lives by begging or scrounging: 1855, in the Weekly Oregonian of Portland, where a German speaker says “Ve don’t vant no bummers here!”.[5][9] Merriam-Webster also dates the word to 1855,[2] Dictionary.com to 1850–55.[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1857 the word was used of any worthless or lazy person.[5] In the American Civil War it was the name for a straggler or deserter, especially a Union soldier who left the ranks to forage and plunder;[5][2] Etymonline calls it common then for a plundering camp-follower.[4] From 1872 to 1898 it was also used of an idle or corrupt politician, a hanger-on of a party.[5] At Yale in 1871 a bummer was a fast young man who went on sprees.[9] The OED takes the verb bum, to loaf or live by sponging (1857), as a back-formation from this noun, and the noun bum, a tramp (1863), as probably from the verb;[5] Dictionary.com likewise sees bum as a shortening of or back-formation from bummer.[3] The later bummer, one who cadges cigarettes or drinks (1948), is formed from that verb.[5][2] Merriam-Webster also lists under this word a low two-wheeled cart for dragging logs, recorded from 1905, for which the OED gives no origin.[2][5] The American Heritage Dictionary now marks the senses loafer and beggar as archaic.[10]

Timeline

  • 1855 – a vagrant or loafer who lives by scrounging.[5][2][9]
  • 1857 – a worthless or lazy person.[5]
  • 1861 – in the American Civil War, a straggler or deserter, a soldier who leaves the ranks to forage.[5]
  • 1871 – at Yale, a fast young man.[9]
  • 1872 – a corrupt politician or party hanger-on (obsolete by 1898).[5]
  • 1905 – a two-wheeled vehicle for dragging logs.[5]
  • 1948 – a person who cadges something, such as cigarettes.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) A loafer or vagrant who lives by begging or scrounging from others.[10][5][2][6]
  2. A person who cadges something from others: a bummer of free drinks.[2][5]
  3. In the American Civil War, a soldier who left the ranks to forage or plunder; a straggler.[5][2]
  4. A worthless or lazy person.[5]
  5. A low two-wheeled cart or truck for skidding logs.[2][5]

bummer2 disappointment, bad experience

Etymology

The word for a disappointing experience is formed from English bum + -er,[2][3][10] from the adjective bum, bad or worthless, as the OED and Dictionary.com put it with some caution.[5][3] The OED regards that adjective (1878) as perhaps from the noun bum, a tramp, which it derives in turn from the verb bum, apparently a back-formation from bummer1, the loafer;[5] so the word goes back, through these steps, to the first bummer.[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An unpleasant or disappointing experience: Green's Dictionary of Slang and Merriam-Webster date it to 1966, the year of Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels (“Man, it was a bummer”);[9][2] the OED cites the same book from 1967.[5] Dictionary.com dates it 1965–70, Etymonline to 1968.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word quickly took on the drug-culture sense of a bad reaction to LSD or another hallucinogen, recorded from 1968 in Timothy Leary and Tom Wolfe.[5][9] The Shorter Oxford also records the senses a mistake and a failure from the mid 20th century,[6] and Merriam-Webster something of low quality.[2] From 1973 it was used as an interjection, more often to express sympathy than one's own annoyance.[5] Slang also made an adjective bummer, depressing (1973), and a verb, of LSD, to give someone a bad trip (1971).[9]

Timeline

  • 1966 – an unpleasant or disappointing experience.[9][2] The OED's first record is from 1967.[5]
  • 1968 – a bad reaction to a hallucinogenic drug.[5][9]
  • 1971 – verb, of LSD, to give a bad experience.[9]
  • 1973 – interjection, expressing disappointment or sympathy; adjective, depressing.[5][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (slang) Something disappointing, frustrating or unpleasant: Missing the last train home was a real bummer.[10][2][5][6]
  2. (slang) A bad reaction to a hallucinogenic drug; a bad trip.[10][2][5][9]
  3. (slang) Something of poor quality; a stinker.[2]

Interjection

  1. (slang) Used to express disappointment or, more often, sympathy: “They cancelled the concert.” “Bummer.”[5]

Usage notes

Other words spelled bummer have separate sources: a Scots and northern word for a humming toy, a bumblebee or a factory siren, and in head bummer a person in authority, from the verb bum, to hum;[5][11] an obsolete word for a bum-bailiff (1675–1890);[5][9] and a slang word for a homosexual man (1965), from bum, backside.[5][9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)