| 释义 |
Brummagem, n. and a.|ˈbrʌmɪdʒəm|
Also 7 Brom-, Brumicham, Brom-, Brim-, Brumigham, Bromedgham, Brumegeum, Brumisham, Brim-, Brumingham, 9 Brummejam.
A. n.
1. A local vulgar form of the name of the town of Birmingham, in England. Hence (contemptuously), An article of Birmingham manufacture: spec.
a. A counterfeit coin;
b. a spur.
[1691G. Miege New State Eng. 235 Bromicham, particularly noted a few years ago, for the counterfeit groats made here, and from hence dispersed all over the Kingdom. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton (1882) 23/2 Poor babby cried..till we got to Brummagem for the night.] 1834–43Southey Doctor cxl. (D.) It proved to be a Brummejam of the coarsest and clumsiest kind. 1840E. Napier Sc. & Sports For. Lands I. vii. 221, I tightened the reins and applied the Brummagems.
2. Eng. Hist. = ‘Birmingham (i.e. counterfeit) Protestant’ [alluding to the counterfeit groats made at Birmingham a few years before]: A nickname given to supporters of the Exclusion Bill in 1680. See Birmingham, anti-Birmingham.
[1681Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 124 The latter party have been called by the former, whigs, fanaticks, covenanteers, bromigham protestants, etc.] 1681Ballad, Riddle of the Round-Head 9 Sept., Whigs and Brumighams, with shams and stories, Are true protestants. 1681Ballad, Ignoramus 15 Dec., O, how they plotted! Briminghams voted, And all the mobile the holy cause promoted. 1682Popish Fables, a Dialogue between Fly-blow, a Tory; Swift-heel, a Tantivy; Flash, a Brumegeum; See-well, a Whig. Ibid. I am a thin brass protestant silver'd over..they call me a Brumegeum..but my Sirname is Flash.
B. attrib. or adj.
1. a. Made in Birmingham. b. With primary allusion to counterfeit groats coined there in 17th c.; but, also, with later reference to plated and lacquered wares still manufactured there: Counterfeit, sham, not genuine; of the nature of a cheap or showy imitation.
1637Calendar Dom. St. Papers 105 Those swords which he..pretends to be blades of his owne makeing are all bromedgham blades & forraine blades. 1688T. Brown, I coined heroes as fast as Brumingham groats. 1827Blackw. Mag. XXII. Oct. 410/2 Brummagem Statesmen. 1853Lytton My Novel I. 120 (Hoppe) A work-table..inlaid with brass..in that peculiar taste which is vulgarly called Brummagem. 1861A. K. H. Boyd Recreat. Country Pars. Ser. ii. 47 The vulgar dandy, strutting along, with his Brummagem jewellery.
2. Hist. Of or pertaining to the ‘Birminghams’ of 1680: see A 2.
See further examples in Birmingham Weekly Post, 11 Dec. 1880.
1681D'Urfey Sir Barnaby Whig Prol., To hear harden'd Brumicham rascals prate. 1681Ballad 15 Sept. Old Jemmy No mobile gay fop, With Brimigham pretences. 1681Ballad (title), A proper New Brummigham Ballad. 1682(Nov.) The Cavalier Litany, From a Brumisham Saint, and a serious Church Whig..Libera nos. 1690B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Bromigham-conscience, very bad; Bromigham-protestants, Dissenters or Whiggs.
Hence Brummagemish a., Brummagemize v., Brummagism.
1870Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) IV. 171 The country began to look Brummagemish. 1886Sat. Rev. 13 Mar. 360 The reluctance of the capital to Brummagemize itself. 1858Greener Gunnery 238 As to the mechanical arrangement, to use a Brummagism, they are as if they had been pitched together.
[Of Birmingham, the OE. form appears to have been *Beormingahám. The metathesis of r, giving Bre-, Bri-, Bru-, Brom-, is found as early at least as the 15th c. In No. 10 of Edgbastonia, 15th Feb. 1882, 140 variant forms and spellings are cited from documents. Among these may be found 1–2 (Domesday) Bermingeham, 3–6 Birmyngeham, 5–6 Brymyngeham, 6 Brimicham, 7 Brimingham, Brimigham, Brimmidgham, Brimisham; also 4–6 Burmyngeham, 4–7 Brum(m)ingham, Brummingsham, Brumigham, Brummidgham, Brumicham.] |