Bits and pieces

July 10th, 2008 at 07:00am Barry Wood

The word “crumb” comes from the Old English “cruma,” literally, “scraping from bread crust.” It is related to similar Dutch and German words.

It also can apply to “any bit or scrap” (Webster’s uses “crumbs of knowledge”). In slang, a crumb is “a worthless, disgusting, or despicable person,” also known as a “crumbum.”

The notion that something that crumbles easily when it shouldn’t is substandard gives us the related slang adjective “crummy.” Note that in this preferred spelling, the silent “b” has also become invisible, replaced by another “m.” I suppose this removes any temptation to pronounce the “b.”

“Crummy” means “dirty, cheap, shabby, disgusting, etc.” or “inferior, worthless, contemptible, etc.”

The verb “crumble,” for “to disintegrate” or go to pieces, should not be confused with “crumple,” which is “to crush together into creases or wrinkles” or “to cause to collapse.”

You can crumple a piece of paper in an instant. It might take years for it to crumble.

Entry Filed under: word origins