Dem Bums Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bumble

Mr. Bumble is the beadle in 'Oliver Twist'. He's the man who sells Oliver to Mr. Sowerberry, the undertaker. He also has one of literature's truly great lines: accused of stealing jewellery belonging to Oliver's mother, Mr. Bumble claims that it was his wife who was the thief.

When Mr. Brownlow, his accuser, remarks that makes no difference because, in the eyes of the law, Mrs. Bumble is under Mr. Bumble's control, Mr. Bumble responds with "If the law supposes that,the law is a ass - a idiot. If that's the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience - by experience."

Answer: bump

It's not surprising that this prayer originated in Cornwall, the county which seems to have more unseen inhabitants, both malicious and beneficial, than any other part of the United Kingdom!

Answer: bumpy

Ms Davis delivers that great line in her role as Margot Channing in 'All About Eve'. If you haven't seen this classic film from 1950, get hold of the DVD and give yourself a treat. In addition to the ever-watchable Ms Davis, the stellar cast includes Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter, Marilyn Monroe (in her first important role), Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, and George Sanders in a tale of ambition, betrayal, and double-dealing.

The film is also notable because four of its actresses were nominated for Best Actress Oscars - Bette Davis and Anne Baxter were nominated as Best Actress in a Leading Role and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter got the nod for Best Supporting Actress. None of them won. George Sanders walked off with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, the film's only acting Academy Award. However, the film won Best Picture, Best Writer and three other Oscars.

Answer: bumbershoot

According to the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins", bumbershoot is late 19th century American slang. It's a combination of the 'umber' part of umbrella and the 'chute' from parachute. Harold Wentworth records in his 'American Dialect Dictionary' more than fifteen other variations - bumbersell and umbershoot among them.

If you're skeptical about parachutes being known in the 19th century, here's a surprise. The word 'parachute', with precisely the same meaning it has today, first appeared in print in 1785! The reason? Well, they needed a way to get out of balloons when trouble loomed-and balloons were commonplace long before the Wright brothers took to the air in heavier-than-air aircraft.

Answer: Bummaree

According to my "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" (a book that should be on the shelves of all trivia nuts), a bummaree is the middleman in the fresh fish/shellfish trade, and the term has been around for at least three hundred years. It's like the word 'sheep', in that the singular and plural forms are the same.

The bummaree will buy catches from the fishermen and sell them to the fish sellers at Billingsgate, the centuries-old site of London's fish market (if you want to go there, just follow your nose!). According to some etymologists, bummaree is a corruption of the French fish seller's cry, "Bonne maree!", which means "Good fresh fish!"

Bummler is the German word for loafer, hence the North American bum.

Answer: bumptious

Bumptious was first used around 1803 and is a combination of 'bump' and 'fractious'. I'm not sure how the 'bump' got in there, but since bumptious means over-assertive, posturing, or pushy, and people who behave in that way are usually argumentative as well, I have no trouble understanding why bump was combined with 'fractious'. My "Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology" is strangely silent on this word.

Answer: bumbleberry

Bumbleberry pie is a pie which originated in North America. It's made with mixed berries - raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, any berry you have on hand. A friend of mine, renowned for her baking skills, always throws in a little rhubarb as well, which gives the bumbleberry pie a piquant hint of tartness.

Answer: bum steer

Believe it or not, the term bum steer originated in the Antipodes in the 19th century, and it has nothing to do with cattle of any kind. It's a reference to the clumsy handling of the rudder which would cause a sailing vessel to go off course. (Keep in mind that both Australia and New Zealand are island nations, so they'd know a bit about steering ships!) Bum steer eventually came to mean leading someone astray, giving poor or false directions, or giving someone false information on any subject.

The phrase came to North America in the 1920s, and didn't hit the shores of the UK until the Aussies and the Kiwis did in the early days of World War II

Answer: bump

Bump racing originated at Eton in the late eighteenth century, and migrated to Oxford and Cambridge when Old Etonians introduced their variation of the sport of rowing. The first bump races were held at Oxford in 1815, and Cambridge got into the act in 1827. Each university holds two bump racing events annually. At Oxford, they're known as Torpids and Summer Eights, and at Cambridge, they're the Lent Bumps and the May Bumps.

So, what is bump racing, you ask? The various colleges enter their rowing eights, and the boats row in single file down the Isis and Cam Rivers. A side-by-side race cannot be held on either river because they are too narrow.

Rather than attempting to overtake rival boats, the object of bump racing is to, well, bump the boat in front without being bumped by the boat behind you. I've never been able to figure out the rules, so I won't attempt to explain them to you. If you plan to attend Bumps Races at either Oxford or Cambridge, book a hotel room. The events are scheduled over several days, and nowadays the women's colleges compete alongside the men's colleges.

As for the classic Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, that's held on the Thames, with a rowing eight from each of the two universities racing from Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge, a distance of over four miles. The first Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race was held in 1829 and the competition was sporadic until 1856, when it became an annual event (although it was suspended during the two World Wars).

I invented bumbleboating and Bums' Row, but if you went bumboating, you'd be aboard a wide, shallow vessel ferrying supplies to ships.

Answer: bum rap

The etymology of 'bum rap' was as tough to track down as that of 'bumptious'! It would seem that the term originated in the US in the 1920s, and it means, as the clue indicated, a charge or conviction for a crime one didn't commit. Watch any Jimmy Cagney or George Raft movie from the 1930s or 1940s and someone is sure to say 'bum rap'!