Ishiguro: sweety gums
Marius Hancu
Is this "sweety gums" BrE idiom/slang?
---
[Ruth is angered at Tommy, her boyfriend, for not telling her
something]
"I really had to dig it out of Sweet Boy here. Not very keen at all on
letting me in on it, were you, sweety gums?"
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 193
---
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<marius...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Hello:
>
>Is this "sweety gums" BrE idiom/slang?
Not that I know of.
It sounds like an invented nickname she uses for her boyfriend.
Her name for him, "Sweet Boy", might derive from his having a love of
sweets (AmE candy).
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/sweet?view=uk
noun 1 Brit. a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar.
"Sweety gums" seems to be a more personal and affectionate version. It
might have arisen from her kissed him after he had eaten a sweet and
finding that the sweetness still lingered on his gums.
If he has a liking for the sweet known as gumdrops there may be more
than one type of gum involved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumdrop
>---
>[Ruth is angered at Tommy, her boyfriend, for not telling her
>something]
>
>"I really had to dig it out of Sweet Boy here. Not very keen at all on
>letting me in on it, were you, sweety gums?"
>
>Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 193
>---
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Don Phillipson
news:8fca2ab5-2c6c-4701...@r27g2000vbp.googlegroups.com...
> "I really had to dig it out of Sweet Boy here. Not very keen at all on
> letting me in on it, were you, sweety gums?"
>
> Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 193
More probably American usage than English. Google finds
"sweeticums" used by Booth Tarkington and other American
authors (and was this not also the name of a large hairy
creature in Sesame Street?) Perhaps Ishiguro knew the
word only from oral usage and guessed at the spelling
(and his British editor was no wiser.)
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Marius Hancu
> > "I really had to dig it out of Sweet Boy here. Not very keen at all on
> > letting me in on it, were you, sweety gums?"
>
> > Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 193
>
> More probably American usage than English. Google finds
> "sweeticums" used by Booth Tarkington and other American
> authors (and was this not also the name of a large hairy
> creature in Sesame Street?) Perhaps Ishiguro knew the
> word only from oral usage and guessed at the spelling
> (and his British editor was no wiser.)
Interesting. In this version, I seem to remember seeing something
similar indeed.
Thank you both.
Marius Hancu
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
I had completely forgotten about "sweeticums", which I think I have met
in writing in BrE.
Donna Richoux
There are a few more Google results when spelled "sweetikums" and
"sweetiekums".
I have a vague feeling that this "-ikums" ending is traditional babytalk
(like "ickle" for "little") but I can't think of other examples.... Yes,
now I've found such things as:
- pwecious daddikums
- Daddikums, "Oh please, Oh Please, *OH PLEASE*, can't you buy
MEEEEEE a new little internettie for MY Christmas? PUH-LEE-YUHZ?
- Nighty night my precious babykums!
(Compare the better-known "babykins".)
Before that, I spent a while looking into the world of gummed sweets --
surely the original reference is to a boy with a fondness for candy? --
but without much luck. There is a Japanese grapefruit-flavored gum
called Sweetie Gum (by Lotte), but that's about as obscure for a modern
British novel as is an endearment in Booth Tarkington.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
wrote:
That was my starting point. There are other possibilities: "Sweet Boy"
might be a less babytalkish variant of "sweeticums" or it might be a
variation of "sweetheart". It might combine several meanings and
origins.
>but without much luck. There is a Japanese grapefruit-flavored gum
>called Sweetie Gum (by Lotte), but that's about as obscure for a modern
>British novel as is an endearment in Booth Tarkington.
--
Robin Bignall
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
I don't know about this particular Ishiguro usage, but when a mature
woman describes a male as a "sweet boy" it usually means he's a bit
naive and she can be walked home by him without getting groped.
>>but without much luck. There is a Japanese grapefruit-flavored gum
>>called Sweetie Gum (by Lotte), but that's about as obscure for a modern
>>British novel as is an endearment in Booth Tarkington.
--
Robin
(BrE)
Herts, England
Marius Hancu
> Peter Duncanson (BrE) <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:44:56 -0500, "Don Phillipson"
> > <e...@SPAMBLOCK.ncf.ca> wrote:
>
> > >> "I really had to dig it out of Sweet Boy here. Not very keen at all on
> > >> letting me in on it, were you, sweety gums?"
>
> > >> Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 193
>
> > >More probably American usage than English. Google finds
> > >"sweeticums" used by Booth Tarkington and other American
> > >authors (and was this not also the name of a large hairy
> > >creature in Sesame Street?) Perhaps Ishiguro knew the
> > >word only from oral usage and guessed at the spelling
> > >(and his British editor was no wiser.)
>
> > I had completely forgotten about "sweeticums", which I think I have met
> > in writing in BrE.
>
> There are a few more Google results when spelled "sweetikums" and
> "sweetiekums".
>
> I have a vague feeling that this "-ikums" ending is traditional babytalk
Good point.
> (like "ickle" for "little") but I can't think of other examples.... Yes,
> now I've found such things as:
>
> - pwecious daddikums
> - Daddikums, "Oh please, Oh Please, *OH PLEASE*, can't you buy
> MEEEEEE a new little internettie for MY Christmas? PUH-LEE-YUHZ?
> - Nighty night my precious babykums!
All interesting:-)
Thank you, Donna!
Marius Hancu