bummer

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʌ.mɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ʌmə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

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

Noun

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

   • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXVIII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:

     “If I get away I sha’n’t be here,” I says, “to prove these rapscallions ain’t your uncles, and I couldn’t do it if I was here. I could swear they was beats and bummers, that’s all, though that’s worth something.

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

• bum (noun)

Etymology 2

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

Noun

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.

Derived terms

• Obummer

Related terms

• bum out

See also

• bad trip
• psychedelic crisis

Interjection

bummer

1. (colloquial) Exclamation of annoyance or frustration at a bummer (disappointment).

Translations

a disappointment, a pity, a shame

• Catalan: ni mai f, esgarriacries (ca) m
• Finnish: pettymys (fi), harmi (fi), kurja juttu
• French: déception (fr) f, flop (fr) m
• German: Reinfall (de) m, Frusterlebnis n, Enttäuschung (de) f, Flop (de) m
• Hebrew: בַּאְסָה (he) f (bása)
• Italian: peccato (it)
• Russian: подстава (ru) (podstava) (not verbatim)
• Spanish: decepción (es) f, fiasco (es) m, fracaso (es) m, vergüenza (es) f, embole (es) m, rollo (es) m

Etymology 3

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

Noun

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.

Derived terms

• bumder

Translations

gay man

• Hindi: गाँडू (hi) (gā̃ḍū)
• Urdu: گانڈو (gā̃ḍū)

Etymology 4

From bum +‎ -er (comparative suffix).

Adjective

bummer

1. comparative form of bum: more bum

Further reading

• “bummer n.² (sodomite)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• “bummer n.³ (tramp)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• “bummer n.⁴ (bummer trip)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

French

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /bɔ.me/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Verb

bummer

1. (transitive, North America, slang) to bum (ask for something for free)

   Je peux-tu te bummer une cig ?

   Can I bum you a cig?

Conjugation

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).