bumph.cackhanded.net

bumph (noun, uncountable)

British English Informal. Useless or tedious printed material, such as leaflets or official documents, that is usually unwanted and not interesting: I need to clear my desk of all the bumph.

Historical slang. A schoolboys' and soldiers' abbreviation of bum-fodder. Mid 19th Century. (Also bumf.)

Recent appearances in Hansard.

bum-fodder (noun, uncountable)

  1. Trashy literature: from circa 1650. In 1660 an anonymous (Alexander Brome's?) verse satire on the Rump Parliament bears this arresting title Bumm-Fodder; or, Waste-Paper proper to wipe the nation's rump with, or your own.
  2. Toilet paper: from circa 1659. From the 19th Century onwards, often abbreviated to bumf.