bummer

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbʌ.mə(ɹ)/
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)

(obsolete, historical) A forager, especially in Sherman's March to the Sea of November to December 1864.
(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 458431182:
  “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.
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).

Noun

bummer (plural bummers)

(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

Related terms

bum out

Interjection

bummer

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

Translations

a disappointment, a pity, a shame

Finnish: pettymys (fi), harmi (fi), kurja juttu
French: déception (fr) f, flop (fr) m
German: Reinfall (de) m, Frusterlebnis n, Enttäuschung (de) f
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

Etymology 3

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

Noun

bummer (plural bummers)

(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

gay man

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

Etymology 4

From bum +‎ -er (comparative suffix).

Adjective

bummer

comparative form of bum: more bum

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/

Verb

bummer

(ditransitive, Quebec, 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	compound	avoir + past participle
infinitive	simple	bummer
present participle or gerund¹	simple	bummant /bɔ.mɑ̃/
present participle or gerund¹	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/
(simple tenses)	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
(compound tenses)	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).