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A section for all you budding etymologists where each week the origin of a word or phrase is investigated.
This week it is..... I’m stumped
Stumped: Stuck - unable to proceed, often regarding
being confounded by some intellectual puzzle.
Some authorities have supposed that this derives from
the development of the road system in the USA. When
these highways were being built the stumps of sawn
down trees could be no more than 15 inches tall. This
was fine for the high axle wagons until rain softened
the soil, at which time wagons would sink into the mud
and were ‘stumped’. This is a good story, albeit one that
doesn’t come packaged with any real evidence.
Others have suggested that it might be from cricket, in
which a batsman is out if the wicketkeeper removes
the stumps with the ball when the batsman is out of
his ground. This explanation is also lacking supporting
evidence and in any case doesn’t really match the
meaning of the expression.
It is more likely that the term derives from ploughs
sticking when they hit tree-stumps. The USA origin is
certainly correct though. All of the early citations of the
phrase originate from there; for example, Seba Smith’s
Letters of Major Jack Downing, 1833:
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“My Good Old Friend, - I’m stumped. I jest got a letter
from the Gineral.”
The term is pre-dated by the term ‘stumper’, which was
US slang for a difficult poser. This was cited in an 1807
edition of the New York magazine Salmagundi:
“They happened to run their heads full butt against a
new reading. Now this was a stumper.”
Is there an English phrase or saying that you would
like to know more about?
Email it to us on [email protected]
Terrace 90
Open: 2pm - 10pm
(Last order at 9.30pm)
From 1 Dec. Open 11am for Lunch
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• Imported and Local Beers
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250/133 Soi 90, Hua Hin
27 November THANKSGIVING BUFFET
650 Baht per person, under twelves 450 Baht
Pre Paid Tickets/Reservations Required
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Opens 5pm, Buffet from 6pm
• Roast US Butterball and Slow Roasted Turkey
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