Word: bum
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1920-1929
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...after all, not a bad thing. Any language must be alive, and must keep its vitality, even at the expense of losing some of its "literary" quality. Such slovenly usage as is to be found in the weakening of the words "pretty", "nice", "fine", and their like is distinctly "bum", but new words--even such plebeian ones as "bum"--often add color to the language. The beauty of English is that it can easily assimilates such new words and phrases, and can sift out the slang which it finds worthy of keeping...
...standard was not maintained. The club easily fell into a slump. The inducement of a 2000-mile Christmas trip to the chief cities where loyal alumni trotted forth adulatory debutantes in honor of bum actors, but ball-room luminaries; and the influence of the typical Broadway musical comedy, completed the wreck. The personnel was chosen with an eye for pleasing these feminine sycophants. The performance was lightly considered; the real work of the evening began on the waxed floor after the final curtain had rung down. The play itself was pitifully colorless: an unmitigated burlesque from its slap-stick dialogue...