[Ads-l] Antedating of "Scumbag" (Condom, Insult)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent citations, Fred. Here is an instance "scum-bag" with the
"condom" sense a few years earlier.

Date: January 1939
Journal: The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
Volume 9, Number 1
Article: An Experiment in Group Treatment
Author: Betty Gabriel (Jewish Board of Guardians, New York City)
Start Page 146, Quote Page 164
Database: Internet Archive

[Begin excerpt]
She said she had seen her father hold a "scum bag" to the window and
examine it. She awakened Linda. Both girls asked why he examined it.
Questioning revealed that they knew its use. I explained that the
father puts the seed there because if placed in the mother there is a
likelihood of pregnancy.
[End excerpt]

There was a different sense way back in 1827. A "scum-bag" was used in
an industrial chemical process.

Date: 1827
Book: Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal Dictionary of Arts,
Sciences, and Literature
Volume 22, Number 1520
Entry: Saccharum
Printed for G. Jones, London
https://archive.org/details/encyclopaedialo221827lond/page/n7/mode/2up?q=%22scum-bag%22+

[Begin excerpt]
Having kept it simmering for several hours, and having provided a
cooler or receiver, over which is placed a strong wooden frame, and
upon this a basket, to which a coarse bag, called the scum-bag, is
fitted, he pours the contents of his pan into this basket and bag ;
and then the mouth of the bag is drawn up, and well twisted together,
and a strong board, called a scum-board, is laid upon the bags, with
several weights upon the board, to press down the scum.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 8:51 PM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> scumbag (OED, = condom, 1967)  1943 Journal of Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology and Quarterly Review of Psychiatry and Neurology_Oct. 298 (Hathi Trust)  A scum-bag is a balloon.
>
> scumbag (OED, insult, 1971; Green 1959) 1949 Transcript of Bridge Hardware Co., Inc. v. Hyman Horowitz 261 (New York Supreme Court Appellate Division - First Department, Direct Examination, 16 Sept.) (Google Books)  He called me scum bag, baldy, and a few other names that I wouldn't like to mention in court.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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