词汇 | bum |
词源 | bum; on the bum. No self-respecting hobo, or tramp, would allow himself to be called a bum, for the word has degenerated from its original meaning of “a vagabond” over a century ago, and today usually stands for a “moneyless, prideless, filthy, hopeless derelict and habitual drunkard.” One working defini- tion to distinguish between the three classes of vagabonds is that “a hobo will work, a tramp won’t, a bum can’t.” Bum was first recorded in 1855, and during the Civil War was used to de- scribe a foraging soldier. It appears to derive from two words: the German bummer, “a high-spirited, irresponsible person,” and the old English word bum, which has for over four centuries been slang for both “a drunk” and “the buttocks.” By the turn of the century a bum was the pitiable creature described above in- stead of a romantic vagabond singing the song of the open road. The term is also used today to describe any no-good person and has a score more uses, including terms like tennis bum and ski bum. On the bum is an American expression dating back to San Francisco Gold Rush days, when it simply meant living the life of a hobo. Later humorist George Ade used the slang term to mean someone not feeling well, and from this use derives our expression on the bum for something that isn’t working well. Bum for a drunken loafer or vagrant is first recorded in refer- ence to men who lost their fortunes in the California gold rush. To bum, to borrow or panhandle money, comes from the prac- tice of bums begging in the streets. Bum, for “the buttocks” is a very old word dating from Middle English; only within the past two centuries has it become a vulgar expression. Bum now is ap- parently not an abbreviation of “bottom” but an echoic word. A long-suppressed nursery rhyme goes: Piss a bed Bailey Butt, Your Bum is so heavy You can’t get up! |
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