slumgullion

[prettygoodword]

slumgullion (sluhm-GUHL-yuhn, SLUHM-guhl-yuhn) - n., originally the muddy waste left in a mining sluice; any cheap, nasty, watery beverage; a stew made with whatever's on hand, esp. if watery.


The last of a week of colorful Americanisms. This one originated in the mining fields of California, though apparently it dates to at least 1847, just before the Gold Rush. The first citation usually given for the beverage sense is from Mark Twain's Roughing It in 1862. The stew is a later, and the only current, sense. Origin is uncertain, but probably has something to do with a dialect variant of slime, which was known to be used by miners, plus possibly Scots-English and/or Irish-English gullion, mud/quagmire, from Gaelic goilín, pit.

Back next week with the regular mix of mixed-up words, but I have a couple more themes lined up for soon.

---L.

Comments

[flwyd]

The cafeteria at the University Memorial Center at the University of Colorado is named the Alferd G. Packer Memorial Grill because the student body thought it would be awesome to have a cafeteria named after a cannibal. The various serving areas are thematically named after areas in southwestern Colorado, including Slumgullion Pass which is east of Lake City in Hinsdale County. I had been previously unaware of the stew connotation, which makes it significantly funnier.

[prettygoodword]

I’ve been through Sumgullion Pass — it’s rather startling. The landscape is all different colors because of landslides, and because of this it was named after the mining waste.