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The A Word A Day email for April 1 of this year contained the word "bumf": "Unwanted or uninteresting printed matter such as governmental forms, legal documents, junk mail, promotional pamphlets, etc." After reading the etymology of the word("Short for bum fodder, slang for toilet paper. Earliest documented use: 1889."), I thought that this must be an April Fool's Day joke, and that bumf could not possibly be a real word that had been in use since 1889.
But there was no subsequent admission of a joke having been played, so today I looked up the word, and was surprised to find that bumf is a real word, in the dictionary! It was originally a slang term, but still, it was not a joke.
I wonder how many other real things happen on April first, that people don't take seriously because they think it is a joke.
But there was no subsequent admission of a joke having been played, so today I looked up the word, and was surprised to find that bumf is a real word, in the dictionary! It was originally a slang term, but still, it was not a joke.
I wonder how many other real things happen on April first, that people don't take seriously because they think it is a joke.