A phrase I sometimes hear from one of my colleagues is scumbag or scumbags:
- Where does this phrase come from?
- How old is it?
- Is its usage still a common occurrence?
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4I think the popularity of "scumbag" has waned along with the Dirty Harry films, but it is still in use, and people would certainly be properly insulted if you called them that. I'm going to start using it again myself, now that you've mentioned it.– Kit Z. Fox ♦Commented Jun 2, 2011 at 11:38
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Look what you've done!– ThursagenCommented Jun 2, 2011 at 11:39
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@ThirdIdiot @Kit is yet another "convert". Whomever I mention this phrase to seems to adopt it!– TreffynnonCommented Jun 2, 2011 at 12:02
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Haha! The Phenomenon of the Treffynnon influence.– ThursagenCommented Jun 2, 2011 at 12:03
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I am an avid user of the word. I used to own a shirt that just said "Scumbag" - after seeing this page, I do not believe I would have made that purchase.– naspinskiCommented Dec 16, 2012 at 15:13
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3 Answers
scumbag "condom," by 1967, slang, from scum + bag. Meaning "despicable person" is attested by 1971.
I found a condom reference back to 1939 in this snippet from the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Volume 9. The date seems accurate:
And I found this figurative use of the phrase from Chandler Brossard's 1953 The Bold Saboteurs:
What a scum bag of a world it was, what a miserable rat's life. I was getting so depressed I was forgetting the money in my pocket. In the early evening we all broke up. I told the fellows I might see them later at Sinbad's Bar
(See @Kit's comment above for current usage.)
answered Jun 2, 2011 at 11:31
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@Callithumpian: The 1939 snippet image is now broken and I don't see it at Google Books to upload via imgur.– HugoCommented Jan 19, 2013 at 19:57
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@Callithumpian: Strange, the image in the question is shown now. Must have been a temporary error. Sorry for the confusion!– HugoCommented Jan 30, 2013 at 6:23
I found an earlier reference for scum-bag as a straining bag used when refining sugar, described in 1819's The Cyclopædia;: or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, Volume 34 by Abraham Rees:
Having kept it simmering for several hours, and having provided a cooler or receiver, over which is placed a strong wooden frame, and upon this a basket, to which a coarse bag, called the scum-bag, is fitted, he pours the contents of his pan into this basket and bag; and then the mouth of the bag is drawn up, and well twisted together, and a strong board, called a scum-board, is laid upon the bags, with several weights upon the board, to press down the scum.
Etymonline notes scum is early 14th century from foam or froth and:
Sense deteriorated from "thin layer atop liquid" to "film of dirt," then just "dirt." Meaning "lowest class of humanity" is 1580s
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And if scum is dirty, the bag you collect it and keep it in is dirtier yet.– OldcatCommented Jan 7, 2014 at 19:07
From the new free dictionary online
scumbag [ˈskʌmˌbæg]
n
Slang an offensive or despicable person
[perhaps from earlier US sense: condom, from US slang scum semen + bag]
Origin: 1965–70; scum + bag
answered Jun 2, 2011 at 11:33
