We’ve all had crummy days. We’ve all felt a little crummy. But why do we associate crumbs with feeling awful? That's what we've been thinking about since our listener Tom Gryniewicz asked us about the negative uses of "crummy."
"Crummy" dates back to the 1500s. Originally, it described things that were literally full of crumbs—like dry, crumbly earth or the crumb of a loaf of bread, as opposed to the crust. For a time, "crummy" could also describe a woman who was plump, and later on, rich or attractive.
In the 1700s, a new spelling, “crumby,” came along and could mean “full of crumbs” or “having the nature of crumbs.” The older spelling, “crummy,” was considered a variant. Historically, “crumb” was spelled “crum.” However, the “b” was added in the 1700s, mostly likely in analogy with a word like “thumb.”
By 1859, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "crummy" could mean “lousy,” “filthy,” or “inferior.” The 1931 book American Tramp and Underworld Slang defines it as “verminous, undesirable, inferior, or cheap.” The Dictionary of American English has examples of “crummy” meaning “lice-infested” up through the 20th century.
This shift in meaning makes more sense when you consider that by the late 1800s, "crummy" also meant “full of lice.” That’s because "crumb" was once slang for a louse. So when someone said something was crummy, they might have literally meant it was crawling with lice.
That connection also explains why "lousy" often shows up as a synonym for "crummy." On its own, “lousy” means “full of lice," and it goes all the way back to the 1300s. In early examples hawks, horses, fish, and even hats could be described as “lousy.”
For more on “lousy,” listen to the audio above.
