Friday, July 9, 2010

Gumps Like Us



To hell with Forrest Gump, and the box of chocolates he rode in on.

Maw was a-talkin' the other day about the old-timers using the term "gump" in place of idjit. According to Dictionary.com, the word had its start in the early 1800s, of unknown origin.

Unbeknownst to me, "The Gumps," featuring Andy Gump, was a popular syndicated comic strip that started running in 1917 by cartoonist, Sydney Smith.

Even a gump like me can still learn something knew every day.

--JTD

1 comment:

JSH said...

Back in the 1970s, I acquired a stack of Sunday Comics newspaper sections from the late lamented Aunt Min's Antiques in Estill County. The collection includes Bringing Up Father, Out Our Way, Gasoline Alley, Boob McNutt, The Katzenjammer Kids, Toonerville Folks, Moon Mullins, Mutt and Jeff, and yes, The Gumps.

I'll see if I can unearth them from the Files and maybe some scans will ensue.