bummer

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈbʌ.mɚ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
    Rhymes: -ʌmə(ɹ)

Etymology 1[edit]

From German Bummler (“a drifter, a stroller, a rambler, a loiterer, a laggard”), from bummeln (“loaf, loiter, stroll, ramble”).

Noun[edit]

bummer (plural bummers)

  1. (obsolete, historical) A forager, especially in Sherman's March to the Sea of November to December 1864.
  2. (US, slang, dated) An idle, worthless fellow, without any visible means of support; a dissipated sponger.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:scrounger
  3. A lamb (typically the smallest of a multiple birth) which has been abandoned by its mother or orphaned, and as a consequence is raised in part or in whole by humans.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From bum (“make unhappy”) +‎ -er (agent noun suffix), originally US drug slang.

Noun[edit]

bummer (plural bummers)

  1. (colloquial) A disappointment, a pity, a shame.
    That's a total bummer.
    • 1977, “Peaches”, in Rattus Norvegicus, performed by The Stranglers:
      Looks like I'm gonna be stuck here the whole summer / Well what a bummer / I can think of a lot worse places to be
  2. (slang, dated, drug use) A psychedelic crisis; hallucinogenic drug use producing undesirable dysphoric psychological effects, most often fear, paranoia, and especially horrifying hallucinations; a bad trip.
    • 2000, “Phase I”, in Voyage 34: The Complete Trip, performed by Porcupine Tree:
      This young man never had a bummer in some 33 LSD trips. Every one of the them was a delight—everything under control. He needed only to snap his fingers, and down he came, anytime. But on Voyage 34, he finally met himself coming down an up staircase, and the encounter was crushing.
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]

Interjection[edit]

bummer

  1. (colloquial) Exclamation of annoyance or frustration at a bummer (disappointment).
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From bum (“engage in anal sex”) +‎ -er (agent noun suffix).

Noun[edit]

bummer (plural bummers)

  1. (UK, slang, derogatory, offensive) A gay man.
    • Matt (interviewee) quoted in 2021, Laura Dixon, Gender, Sexuality and National Identity in the Lives of British Lifestyle Migrants in Spain (page 108)
      You know, the kind of guy who would, if he wasn't gay, probably be shouting ‘Oi, gay boy!’ or ‘You bummer!’ or even ‘Oi, paki!’ or what have you. They're not enlightened.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

From bum +‎ -er (comparative suffix).

Adjective[edit]

bummer

  1. comparative form of bum: more bum

Further reading[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English bum (“to ask for something for free”), from bum (“homeless person”), a back-formation from (now dated) bummer (“idle person”), from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

bummer

  1. (transitive, Quebec, slang) to bum (ask for something for free)
    Je peux-tu te bummer une cig ?
    Can I bum you a cig?

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of bummer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple bummer
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple bummant
/bɔ.mɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle bummé
/bɔ.me/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present bumme
/bɔm/ 		bummes
/bɔm/ 		bumme
/bɔm/ 		bummons
/bɔ.mɔ̃/ 		bummez
/bɔ.me/ 		bumment
/bɔm/
imperfect bummais
/bɔ.mɛ/ 		bummais
/bɔ.mɛ/ 		bummait
/bɔ.mɛ/ 		bummions
/bɔ.mjɔ̃/ 		bummiez
/bɔ.mje/ 		bummaient
/bɔ.mɛ/
past historic2 bummai
/bɔ.me/ 		bummas
/bɔ.ma/ 		bumma
/bɔ.ma/ 		bummâmes
/bɔ.mam/ 		bummâtes
/bɔ.mat/ 		bummèrent
/bɔ.mɛʁ/
future bummerai
/bɔm.ʁe/ 		bummeras
/bɔm.ʁa/ 		bummera
/bɔm.ʁa/ 		bummerons
/bɔm.ʁɔ̃/ 		bummerez
/bɔm.ʁe/ 		bummeront
/bɔm.ʁɔ̃/
conditional bummerais
/bɔm.ʁɛ/ 		bummerais
/bɔm.ʁɛ/ 		bummerait
/bɔm.ʁɛ/ 		bummerions
/bɔ.mə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		bummeriez
/bɔ.mə.ʁje/ 		bummeraient
/bɔm.ʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present bumme
/bɔm/ 		bummes
/bɔm/ 		bumme
/bɔm/ 		bummions
/bɔ.mjɔ̃/ 		bummiez
/bɔ.mje/ 		bumment
/bɔm/
imperfect2 bummasse
/bɔ.mas/ 		bummasses
/bɔ.mas/ 		bummât
/bɔ.ma/ 		bummassions
/bɔ.ma.sjɔ̃/ 		bummassiez
/bɔ.ma.sje/ 		bummassent
/bɔ.mas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — bumme
/bɔm/ 		— bummons
/bɔ.mɔ̃/ 		bummez
/bɔ.me/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

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