bumf

bumf
\ \ [20] The earliest, literal, but now long discontinued sense of bumf is ‘toilet paper’ (first recorded in 1889), which does much to elucidate its origin: it is short for bum fodder. The element of contempt is carried over into its modern meaning, ‘unwanted or uninteresting printed material’, which dates from around 1930.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • bumf — bumph [bʌmf] n [U] BrE informal boring written information that you have to read ▪ I got loads of bumf about the introduction of the Euro …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • bumf — or bumph [bumf] n. [contr. < bumfodder, lit., toilet paper < BUM2 + FODDER] [Brit. Slang] official documents, regarded disparagingly …   English World dictionary

  • bumf — /bumf/, n. Brit. 1. Slang. toilet paper. 2. memoranda, official notices, or the like. [1885 90; short for bumfodder. See BUM2, FODDER1] * * * …   Universalium

  • bumf — papers, paperwork, 1889, British schoolboy slang, originally toilet paper, from bum fodder …   Etymology dictionary

  • bumf — (also bumph) ► NOUN informal, chiefly Brit. 1) useless or tedious printed information. 2) dated toilet paper. ORIGIN abbreviation of slang bum fodder, in the same sense …   English terms dictionary

  • bùmf — in búmf medm. (ȕ; ȗ) posnema močen pok, glas pri padcu, udarcu: bumf! je počilo; mladinska brigada pozdravi: horuk, horuk, bumf / sname torbo in bumf v kot …   Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika

  • bumf — [[t]bʌ̱mf[/t]] also bumph N UNCOUNT Bumf consists of documents containing information which you may not need or find interesting. [BRIT, INFORMAL] The waste paper basket was full of bumf, trivial letters and advertising circulars …   English dictionary

  • bumf — also bumph noun Etymology: from bumf toilet paper, short for bumfodder, from 1bum + fodder Date: circa 1889 chiefly British paperwork …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • bumf — noun /bʌmf/ Useless papers; now especially official documents, standardized forms, sales and marketing print material etc. And as for the limited warnings on documents and signs – we are so used to reading this bumf we fail to realise when they… …   Wiktionary

  • bumf — [20] The earliest, literal, but now long discontinued sense of bumf is ‘toilet paper’ (first recorded in 1889), which does much to elucidate its origin: it is short for bum fodder. The element of contempt is carried over into its modern meaning,… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • bumf — noun (U) BrE informal boring written information that you have to read: I got a load of bumf from the gas board …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

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