"bumfuck"?

[Joel S. Berson]

When I search Google Books for "bumfuck date: 1800-1950", I first get
a hit for "Extension of Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act? - Page 348.
by United States Congress. Senate. Committee on Finance - 1949."  A
very intriguing possible source, I think.  The "snippet view" text
does not show the desired word, so I click on the link.

Google Books now tells me "Your search - bumfuck date:1800-1950 - did
not match any documents.  Try this search over all volumes:  bumfuck
date:1800-1950"  (When I click on that, of course I'm led back to the
US Senate.)

Why, oh why, does one (Sematorial?) page of Google think it's found a
word, and another doesn't?

Joel

At 1/15/2009 10:10 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>At 10:11 PM -0500 1/14/09, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>Does "bumfuck", either noun "act of anal copulation" or verb, go back
>>to the18th century?  I do not see it in the OED or Chapman or
>>Wentworth & Flexner (the only sources on my shelves).
>>
>>Joel
>It's not in Farmer & Henley either.  The closest entry is "bumf" =
>'paper' (a truncation of "bum-fodder" in schoolboys' lingo, as "an
>obvious allusion to toilet paper".  Or, if you prefer, "bumfodder"
>itself, either 'toilet paper' or 'low-class worthless literature,
>arsewipes, torche-culs'.
>
>LH
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org