Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 02:08:06 EDT
From: Bapopik
Subject: Scumbag (continued); F-WORD additions
SCUMBAG (continued)
"Scumbag" is turning into a worthwhile term for study. It appears to
have originated in New York City.
A very useful book is THE ANATOMY OF DIRTY WORDS (1962) by Edward
Sagarin, with an introduction by Allen Walker Read. This extensive discussion
is from page 155:
But the key word in this language is one used primarily in lower-economic
groups, and among youngsters, particularly in the urbanized areas of the
eastern part of the United States, where semen is called _scum_ and the condom
is known as _the scum bag_.*
(* I am informed that this usage is rather limited in the United States
to the East coast, to urbanized areas, and to immigrants and first- and
second-generation Americans. Several readers, hailing from the South, Mid-
West, and Far West, inform me that they had (a) never heard the word used in
this manner before reaching New York, or (b) never heard the word used in this
manner before reading this manuscript. I am pleasantly surprised to learn of
the confinement of this practice to a limited segment of the American
population.)
The dictionary definition of _scum_ is well known. Literally, it is
waste material that floats at the top of a fluid-containing receptacle.
Figuratively, it is refuse, any waste, and particularly anything vile and
worthless. _Scum_ is the epitome of the low, dirty, evil, and in proper
societies is so used to apply to people who are looked upon as degraded.
Those who are denigrated and deprecated--they are _scum_. Vile and
worthless--_they are the scum of the earth_.
(seven paragraphs deleted--ed.)
And this is _scum_! That is what our language calls these most precious
drops without which humanity could not continue. This is more than simple
irony. It is bitter tragedy.
An important book is CURSING IN AMERICA: A PSYCHOLINGUISTIC STUDY OF
DIRTY LANGUAGE IN THE COURTS, IN THE MOVIES, IN THE SCHOOLYARDS AND ON THE
STREETS (John Benjamins Publishing, 1992) by Timothy Jay. Table 1 on page 39
is the "Children's Taboo Lexicon." It doesn't have "scumbag." However,
"douche bag" was spoken by males ages 9-10 and no females.
Page 38 states: "some of the words cross all age ranges and both sexes
(_shit_); others are limited by age (_dink_) or to one sex (_douche bag_ for
males or the word _vagina_ which is produced here only by girls)."
The "Dirty Word Production Lexicon" is on page 125. "Douche bag" was
heard six times by seven male listeners recording a male speaker, and "douche
bag" was heard zero times by seven female listeners recording a male speaker.
Clearly, "scumbag/douche bag" is a male epithet. Thus, President Bill
Clinton was called a "scumbag," but First Lady Hillary Clinton was called
other things.
A Worldcat search shows "Leonard's plain uterine douche," which was
designed by Charles Henri Leonard and appears to date from 1880. The OED's
first citation here is 1887.
"Dirtbag" (a similar word) shows up twice on a Worldcat title search.
The musical group Man Dingo recorded a song called "Dirtbag" on their 1994
album IFIVE. And then there is Mike Williams's THE OFFICIAL DIRT BAG
HANDBOOK: A GUIDE TO LOW-LIVING AND OTHER WAYS OF DISGUSTING PEOPLE,
published at 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3308, New York, New York 10001.
For a true New York City connection, these words would be expected to be
found in the novels of Henry Miller. And yes, the OED has a TROPIC OF CANCER
(1934) citation for "douche-bag" (not the epithet, however).
Neither the OED nor the RHHDAS quote Miller's three "Rosy Crucifixion"
novels (SEXUS, PLEXUS, NEXUS) of the 1950s. PLEXUS has this:
pg. 197 There was one spot, a restaurant, I think, over on Sheridan Square.
"You mean Minnie Douchebag's hangout?"
"Minnie Douchebag?"
"Yes, that crazy fairy who sings and plays the piano...and wears women's
clothes."
pg. 310 Everything is cheap, tawdry, vulgar, and phoney. Minnie Douchebag is
on the same level as the prison warden round the corner.
Perhaps we can date the "douche bag" and "scum bag" epithets to the
1920s, Sheridan Square, New York City, and Minnie Douchebag?
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F-WORD
THE ANATOMY OF DIRTY WORDS is also useful if Jesse Sheidlower updates his
THE F WORD. That book has the sandwich words "absofuckinglutely" and "fan-
fucking-tastic," but not these, from page 148:
Examples of sandwich words that have been used with some frequency
unclude _irrefuckinsponsible_, _imfuckinpossible_, _unfuckinconscious_, and
_unfuckinsociable_. In each instance, it is possible that the substitution of
an _e_ for the _i_ following the _k_ might more closely approximate the
pronunciation.
THE F-WORD also doesn't have this title, which is helpful for "fuck,"
"frig," "cherry," "prick," and "fairy" (possibly an antedate):
TITLE: New and gorgeous pantomime
entitled Harlequin Prince Cherry top and the good fairy
Fairfuck,
or, The frig, the fuck and the fairy.
PLACE: Oxford.
PUBLISHER: University Press.
YEAR: 1879
PUB TYPE: Book
FORMAT: 30 p. 20 cm.
NOTES: At head of title: Theatre royal, Olymprick.
Microfiche. New York, N.Y., New York Public Library,
19--, 1 sheet.