rumgumption
Feb. 17th, 2026 07:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordrumgumption (rum-GUMP-shuhn) or rumblrgumption (rum-buhl-GUMP-shuhn) - (Scot. & N. Eng.) n., shrewdness, good sense, intelligence.
Somewhat dated, possibly enough that I should mark it as arch. Related term: rumgumptious, which means shrewd but also headstrong or forward in manner, so a bit of semantic drift there. Gumption, meaning good sense and boldness, is also related, as the root, but what the prefix means no one seems to know -- possibly it's just an intensifier?
---L.
Somewhat dated, possibly enough that I should mark it as arch. Related term: rumgumptious, which means shrewd but also headstrong or forward in manner, so a bit of semantic drift there. Gumption, meaning good sense and boldness, is also related, as the root, but what the prefix means no one seems to know -- possibly it's just an intensifier?
---L.
