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Brummagemadj.n. Origin: From a proper name. Etymons: proper name Brimigham, Bromagem, Brummagem, Brumagem. Etymology: < Brimigham, Brimingham (16th–17th cent.), Bromagem, Bromidgham, Bromigham, Bromingham, Brumicham, Brumigham, Brummigham, Brummingham, Brumingham (17th cent.), Brummagem (18th cent. onwards), Brumagem (19th cent. onwards), variants (with metathesis of r ) of the name of Birmingham , a city in the west midlands of England (see Birmingham n.), which was renowned in the second half of the 17th cent. as a centre for metalworking, as well as notorious for the production of counterfeit coins. Compare Birmingham n.History of the place name. The name of the city is first recorded as Bermingeham (1086). Variants in Br- , showing metathesis of r , are attested from the late 12th cent. onwards (compare Brumingeham (1198), Brimingham (1200)). Forms of the name showing pronunciations of original medial -nge as /ndʒ/, /ntʃ/, and (with subsequent loss of medial n : compare α. forms) as /dʒ/, /tʃ/ are evidenced from the 13th cent. onwards (compare e.g. Bermincham (1285), Birmecheham (1285), etc.). For further discussion of the formal development of the place name see J. E. B. Gover et al. Place-names Warwickshire (1936) 34–6. Forms of the place name showing metathesis in the initial syllable and a medial affricate were very frequent in the 17th cent.; these features persist in current local pronunciation of the standard form Birmingham , and are also occasionally reflected in spelling. Compare the following examples of Brummagem (and variants) as a place name:1660 Royal Wanderer (single sheet) ii./1 She asked his birth, and whence he came? A Naylors son in Brumageham reply'd the King.1699 S. Garth Dispensary 34 Th' aspiring Alps shall sooner sink to Vales, And Leaches, in our Glasses, swell to Whales; Or Norwich trade in Implements of Steel, And Bromingham in Stuffs and Druggets deal.1800 Monthly Mirror Aug. 75 How frequently is Birmingham counterfeited into Brummagem, and the celebrated Stonehenge called Stonnage, by what dialect, I know not.1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. x. 171 I am as great a one, as any man in Brummagem, Sir!1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. ix. 163 Poor babby cried..till we got to Brummagem for the night.1929 ‘H. Green’ Living xiv. 175 Oh Bert I wish your dad and mother did live in Brummagem and not in Liverpool.2001 Guardian 9 May (Society section) 6/1 It's a little survivor of old Brummagem, a reminder of a time when city-centre living meant something very different from what it does today.Compare also the following attributive examples of Brummagem (and variants):1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. x. 172 I had vainly essayed to repeat the miracle of Orpheus with the Brummagem patriot.1860 W. F. Peacock Ramble to Wreck of Royal Charter 13 My friend was an Englishman, with a Brummagem accent.1879 ‘C. Haselwood’ Dead Lilies I. xiv. 186 Here is Mrs. Jones in cherry-coloured satin, with any amount of white lace about her and silver braid. Brummagem people seem fond of braid.1976 H. J. Meers Helping our Children Talk 1 After a moment of stupefaction I realized he had not spoken Pakistani. It was his first English phrase; ‘Here you are,’ rendered in Brummagem dialect.1998 Birmingham Evening Mail (Nexis) 28 Mar. 17 Just an ordinary terraced house in a typical Brummagem street. Notes on senses. Birmingham was a centre for the manufacture of counterfeit coins (especially groats) during the reign of Charles II; see sense A. 1 and compare also:1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar Prol. sig. Aiv Take you i'th' mood, what e'er base metal come, You coin as fast as Groats at Bromingam. Use as a depreciative term for Protestant supporters of the Exclusion Bill (see senses A. 2 and B. 1) is generally held to allude to the fact that they were characterized by their political opponents as ‘fake’ Protestants, apparently reflecting the reputation of Birmingham for counterfeit coinage. Compare the following contemporary comment:1681 Muddiman Newslett. VII. 5 Mar. (MS Longleat 83) Burmingham Protestants as some not inaptly call them who with a counterfeit stamp and a disguised face passe currant among the greater number of People though upon Examination they prove Counterfeit and of the basest of mettals. Such use may also partly reflect the reputation of Birmingham as a stronghold of Puritanism and anti-Royalist sentiment during the Civil War. Perhaps compare also the following earlier example (with specific reference to swords):?1637 in State Papers Domest. Charles I (P.R.O.: SP 16/377) f. 80 Those swords wch he..pretends to be blades of his owne makeing, are all bromedgham blades & forraine blades, and for the bromedgham blades they are no way serviceable or fit for his Majesty's store.Use in sense B. 3 alludes to the manufacture of spurs in Birmingham in the 18th and 19th cent., perhaps specifically to a kind of prick spur patented in the city in 1786. slang. A. adj.the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [adjective] 1679 2 Stamping Adulterated Mettals..and after Guilding, put it off to the full vallue of the true and lawful Coin, bearing the proportionable, as Mill'd half-Crowns, Crowns, Brummijum Groats, Broad Gold and Guinnies. 1688 T. Brown 14 I..Coyned Heroes as fast as Brumingham-Groats. 1693 G. St. Lo 26 Others wear Bromagem Coats, as if they belonged to Noblemen and Gentlemen, tho they do not, thereby deceiving the Lieutenants. 1703 Pref. A Sham-Fit, a Brumingham Protestation, a Lying Billadeux, and an Affected Tenderness of some Damsel, who laughs at every thing that's Sincere. 1772 I. i. 18 Nothing is more talked of than friendship, nothing less practised; like a Brimingham shilling it passes for Sterling among those, who give themselves no trouble to put it to the assay. 1806 T. Dibdin i. 17 If I am robb'd, it shall only be of an odd-looking one pound note, a suspicious seven shilling-piece, and a Brummagem sixpence. 1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton I. ii. iii. 104 A work-table..inlaid with brass..in that peculiar taste which is vulgarly called ‘Brumagem’. 1869 ‘K. K.’ x. 41 Taking out and distributing our manufactures, down to the Brummagem trinket for gratifying the vanity of some unadorned beauty in the South Seas. 1877 M. St. John I. iii. 57 The brummagem ‘lord’ has turned up again. He has now reduced himself in the social rank to Doctor. 1896 B. Burleigh vi. 120 Some squire or headman bore beside him an ornate golden gilt shield, which later on was used in the ceremonies. It had a ‘Brummagem’ look, and emitted a fine brassy ‘jingle’. 1904 E. Wharton in Oct. 901/1 The ridiculous Villa Pallavicini at Pegli, a brummagem creation of the early nineteenth century. 1996 A. Fein et al. 126/2 And so, with his pockets bereft of boosted baseball cards (brummagem or bona fide), Milhouse left the Wiggum home. 2006 (Nexis) 13 Feb. Active distortions of reality through brummagem corporate filings. society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [adjective] > of or relating to Whigs > as supporting Exclusion Bill 1681 T. D'Urfey Prol. To hear two hard'ned Brumicham Rascals prate. 1681 (broadsheet) No Mobile gay Fop, With Brimigham pretences. 1681 (title) A proper New Brummigham Ballad. 1682 (single sheet) From a Brumisham Saint, and a serious Church Whig..Libera &c. 1699 B. E. Bromigham-conscience, very bad; Bromigham-protestants, Dissenters or Whiggs. B. n.society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Whiggism > a Whig > as supporting Exclusion Bill 1681 9 Sept. Whigs and Brumighams, with shams and stories, Are true protestants. 1681 15 Dec. O, how they plotted! Briminghams voted, And all the mobile the holy cause promoted. 1682 (title page) A satyrical dialogue between Fly-blow, a Tory. Swift-heel, a Tantivy. Flash, a Brumegeum. See-well, a Whigg. 1682 3 I am a thin brass Protestant silver'd over; but for brevity sake though, they call me a Brumegeum, which is my Christian name, but my Sirname is Flash. 1682 H. Care IV. 97 Such Hereticks were generally call'd Lollards, they were the Puritans, the Fanaticks, the Whigs, the Brummingham's of those days. 1867 W. E. Hearn i. 28 For a time the names of petitioners and of approvers, or of Brummagems and of Tantivies, marked the principles of the opposing parties, or the classes from which they were derived. 2012 B. Tandon in J. Austen 220/1 The Protestant supporters of the Exclusion Bill in 1680 were famously termed ‘brummagems’ by their political opponents. society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > false coin > [noun] > a false coin 1682 E. Hickeringill 18 A Cause slenderly witnessed, had need be well-Jury'd, or else the 2000 l. had not been worth a Gray-Groat; no, not worth a Brummingham. 1822 31 Aug. 552/3 She found not a Brummagem, To pay for the baked meats and funeral fee. 1838 R. Southey V. 36 It proved to be a Brummejam of the coarsest and clumsiest kind. 1894 Feb. 151 Every manyfact'rer turns aht honest stuff to start wi'; but sooin he tak's to makkin' shams an' Brummagems an' lies. 1920 in 15 141 Among these ‘brummagems’ were a vast number of counterfeits of the State cents. 1975 11 Aug. 70/1 You won't find these [sc. campaign buttons] in Broadway novelty stores (and if you do, they may be brummagems). 2015 B. Tripp viii. 151 Sax suggested Fra Paolo take him around to some antique shops in the immediate area so he could see what worthless brummagems they were trying to pass off as sound articles. society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [noun] > art of horse-riding > use of hands and legs > using spurs > spur 1823 24 May 37/1 Be sure to wear long Brummagems, Anglice spurs; never mind want of horse. 1840 E. E. Napier I. vii. 221 I tightened the reins and applied the Brummagems. 1869 Feb. 143 We hold hard for a moment, but a touch of the Brummegems soon carry us past such obstacles. Derivatives the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [adjective] 1855 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 21 June in (1997) I. ii. 181 As we approached Birmingham, the country began to look somewhat Brummagemish, with its manufacturing chimnies, and pennons of flame quivering out of their tops; its forges; and great heaps of mineral refuse; its smokiness; and other ugly symptoms. 1886 13 Mar. 360 The reluctance of the capital to Brummagemize itself. 1847 16 Jan. 303/3 When she [sc. Greece] ceased to be omnipotent in design—when her artists became Brummagemized—she forfeited her political freedom. 1895 23 Feb. 87/2 There ain't ne'er a Cockney C. C. [sc. county councillor] as can side-up with Joey the Brum... When England's all Brummagemised, and I'm boss of it, won't it be prime? This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021). <  adj.n.1679 |
