crumb [OE] The word crumb did not always have a b at the end: this was added in the 16th century, influenced partly by the related word crumble [LME] and partly by words like dumb and thumb, where the ‘b’ was silent. The dated exclamation crumbs is a euphemism for ‘Christ’ (compare cripes) and dates from the late 19th century. Crummy [M19th], now meaning ‘unpleasant’ and ‘in poor condition’, was originally spelled crumby and meant ‘crumbly’ or ‘covered in crumbs’.