| Title: | The Joy of Lex |
| Notice: | A Notes File even your grammar could love |
| Moderator: | THEBAY::SYSTEM |
| Created: | Fri Feb 28 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Jun 02 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1192 |
| Total number of notes: | 42769 |
I was reading a magazine article the other day about the history of the
provision of public housing in the UK. The writer mentioned as an aside
that no one appears to know the origin of the word "slum".
My curiosity piqued, I looked it up in Websters, which duly stated that
the origin of the word was unknown. However, I was having dinner with a
friend who is a copious buyer of second-hand books, and we looked it up
in a battered pre-war dictionary that he had recently picked up. This
dictionary offered the derivation "slam", which is a Danish word
meaning a mire.
This seems plausible, except for the fact that it is a Danish word. I'm
not aware that the Danes have ever been noted for the poor quality of
the conditions in which they live. Does anyone know of another
derivation of this word?
Chris
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 686.1 | Have Some Slumgullion, Bub? | RIGAZI::SPERANDIO | Tue Aug 01 1989 23:00 | 27 | |
Hmm. I've got a shelf of reference books and had about the same luck. I did
find the following info. Maybe you can find some tie-in to definition 3 or
the British slang*?
- Skeezix
slum: n. 1. any meat and vegetable stew. especially one made of boiled salt-beef
and potatoes. primarily hobo and Army use.
2. Rations; inferior, mass-produced food. prison and army use c1925.
3. Cheap merchandise, as jewelry or gilded plaster book-ends sold at
stands or given as prizes in games of chance or skill.
carnival and circus use since c1920.
* In the U.S.slum was never = a swindle (British slang)
adj. cheap, inferior,gaudy. Possibly derived from "salmagundi".
- Dictionary Of American Slang
ISBN 0671432273
salmagundi: a mixture of chopped meat and pickled herrings with oil, vinegar,
pepper, and onions.
-Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
ISBN 0394749057
| |||||
| 686.2 | Inkhornish? | WELSWS::MANNION | Writing in the streets | Wed Aug 02 1989 11:13 | 7 |
"slum = a swindle (British slang)" - not these days, in my experience,
so if you can giveus more info on that usage it would be interesting.
Phillip
| |||||
| 686.3 | Keep Violins Off Childrens' Television!! | RIGAZI::SPERANDIO | Thu Aug 03 1989 21:10 | 20 | |
Sorry, that's all I have on British slang.
Maybe some of our Brit noters can be of assistance.
But, I did find the following:
[1805-15;cf earlier argot "slum room"; orig. obscure]
- Random House Dictionary Of The English Language, 2nd Ed. Unabridged.
[first appers as slang word for room;<?]
- Random House Dictionary Of The English Language, 1st edition. Unabridged.
How does slum derive from room?
How about this?
OE sluma = sleep.
sluma + room
sleep-> sleeping(slumber) room-> boarding house room-> cheap sleeping room->slum
Maybe slang for "get me a cheap room" was "get me a slum"????
- Skeezix
| |||||