DCHP-3

bumph

DCHP-2 (Nov 2012)

Spelling variants:
bumf

n. — especially British Columbia, slang, derogatory, Urban culture

publicity materials, such as flyers and brochures, and papers considered as worthless more generally.

Type: 2. Preservation — This term is marked as British in most dictionaries and still occurs in the UK slightly more frequently than in Canada (see Chart 1). Originally an abbreviation for "bum-fodder", or toilet paper, bumf now refers to papers of little value. The term qualifies as a regionalism in British Columbia on account of its frequency (Chart 2), although it is found in Ontario as well. Today, a part of the term's meaning overlaps with junk (mail).
See also COD-2, s.v. "bumph" (1) (also bumf), which is marked "Cdn & Brit", Gage-5, s.v. "bumf", marked "Slang", and OED-3, s.v. "bumf", marked "slang", W-3, s.v. "bumf", marked "slang Brit".
The spelling variants of bumph and bumf are roughly even in the Canadian press of the last two or three decades, with bumph being the older form and a historical respelling of "bum-fodder".

Quotations

1942
Log books were being brought up to date, letters were being written, intelligence "bumph" was being studied and some plain and fancy loafing was being loafed in the dim, friendly room.
1947
In the "bumph" you collected during registration week, in September, three chances out of four you will find you have a membership card. This makes you a a member of the largest association on the campus.
1967
Last year, 300,000 tourists arrived and other outsiders signed contracts to buy more than $20 million of residential lots. The bumph-writers down here say the development of Grand Bahama Island is a demonstration of "how unlimited prosperity can be achieved when dynamic men of vision, unfettered by restrictions, turn a dream into reality."
1978
Millions of dollars are spent to publicize films, some of which haven't even been completed, through billboards, airplanes, T-shirts, posters, lavish parties and mounds of bumph.
1986
The PC party spent megabucks to put together a package of glossy bumf for its general meeting. Too bad it doesn't even know its own history.
1995
Retired Province columnist Bruce McLean used to keep what he called his "yellow file." Any press release or p.r. bumf that sat long enough to begin yellowing got pitched out. If he hadn't got around to it by then, he reasoned, he likely never would.
2006
The magazine, in its promo bumph, promises, "No ridiculous fashion trends. No stupid advice. Only real talk from real moms who tell the truth about life, marriage, motherhood, keeping house and keeping your sanity."
2013
It's the greatest show-and-tell ever, according to the marketing bumph. And there is no reason to doubt that. Maker Faire started seven years ago in California on a five-acre midway in San Mateo, followed quickly by another in Austin, Texas.

References

  • COD-2
  • Gage-5
  • OED-3
  • W-3

Images

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 16 Sep. 2013

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 16 Sep. 2013

Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 16 Sep. 2013

Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 16 Sep. 2013