# A New Name for Czech Republic **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 1999, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045 "1999-08-24T09:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/61 "2025-12-26T22:45:10Z")
I think we complement each other well again. 😃 And checking my despised Duden on-line for the sake of a cite: A _**[Bummel](https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Bummel_Spaziergang)**_ is an aimless stroll. Or a tour through many bars (that is new to me, I would have called it _Keipentour_ or _Saufgelage_) ETA: And checking further the etymology: ### Herkunft [ⓘ](https://www.duden.de/hilfe/herkunft) aus dem Niederdeutschen, ursprünglich = hin und her schwanken (von der beim Ausschwingen „bum, bum“ läutenden Glocke) ### Origin From Low German, originally meaning to swing back and forth (from the bell ringing ‘bum, bum’ as it swings). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/62 "2025-12-26T22:48:14Z")
You know, I took many Kneipentouren in my life, but I never called them “Bummeln”, but rather “stumbling”… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/63 "2025-12-26T22:51:32Z")
It seems it was _Studentensprache_ in the XIX Century. I did not know either, but drinking is allegedly the reason they took so long to finish their education. I can relate to that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/64 "2025-12-26T22:55:58Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I did not know either, but drinking is allegedly the reason they took so long to finish their education. I can relate to that. Could have been the reason why it took me 9 semesters to get my diploma instead of 7 semesters of _Regelstudienzeit_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/65 "2025-12-26T23:00:30Z")
Just two semester over Regelstudienzeit is not Bummeln. In the '80s in Berlin, Sir, it would have been called overachieving (see → _Streber_). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/66 "2025-12-26T23:03:51Z")
Yeah, (West) Berlin in the 80s was a very special place. Half of your male students were only matriculated there to avoid military service. 😆 But please don’t ever call me a Streber again! 😂 (worst insult of my school days) ETA: as for “Bummelstudenten”, I had student friends in Dortmund in the 90s, and all of them later had fine careers, but back then there was one guy that stood out on every party, because he was 15 years older than the rest. That was the record breaking long time student of Dortmund, he finally graduated after more than 40 semesters. I have heard that he’s dead now, and I’m sure his education lasted much longer than his professional career. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/67 "2025-12-26T23:10:33Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > (West) Berlin in the 80s was a very special place. That is true. But have you ever thought about what that meant in practice? Female students and half of the male students had a great time, and the other half of male students… well, some went to East Berlin, were they were kings for a day with 25 West Mark (aka Deutsche Mark) _**[Zwangsumtausch](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindestumtausch)**_ (weird that there is no English wikipage for the 25 Deutsch Mark you had to exchange 1:1 for worthless East Mark). > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > But please don’t ever call me a Streber again! 😂 My apologies. Will never happen again. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/68 "2025-12-26T23:13:49Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Any comments from our German speakers in the thread? See what you’ve done? You got us started. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/69 "2025-12-26T23:15:20Z")
But you’ve not answered my question! 😉 is it cognate to “bum”? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/70 "2025-12-26T23:18:26Z")
Not in Hochdeutsch, but perhaps – probably not – in Plattdeutsch is the best I and my google-fu can offer. ETA: **Pleonast** ’s google-fu is something to learn from. See next post. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/71 "2025-12-26T23:20:41Z")
Yes. > 1864, [back-formation](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#back-formation) from _[bummer](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bummer#English)_, from [German](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language) _[Bummler](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Bummler#German)_ (“loafer”), from _[bummeln](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bummeln#German)_ (“to loaf”). > **[Etymology 2 - bum - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bum#Etymology_2)** > > 1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/72 "2025-12-26T23:24:53Z")
Interesting. “Bum” to mean your rump is not cognate, but “bum” to mean a hobo is cognate. The wonders of the English language. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/73 "2025-12-26T23:26:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The wonders of the English language. The trick of the English language is to steal from _everyone_! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/74 "2025-12-26T23:27:17Z")
I was looking for the origin of the German _bummeln_, when I should have looked at the origin of the English bum. English so often influences German today that I did not think of checking the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/75 "2025-12-26T23:39:10Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The trick of the English language is to steal from _everyone_! I forget where I read this, but it was something like “English doesn’t borrow words from other languages, it lures them into dark alleys, beats them up and steals their wallet and clothes.” ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/76 "2025-12-26T23:45:58Z")
> The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James\_Nicoll#"The\_Purity\_of\_the\_English\_Language"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nicoll#%22The_Purity_of_the_English_Language%22) ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/77 "2025-12-26T23:51:18Z")
That’s it! I don’t recognize the entire quote, so I think what I saw was someone’s paraphrasing of it. Thanks for the full quote, it provides better context for the fragment I sort-of remembered. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045/78 "2025-12-26T23:55:57Z")
I think Bill Bryson used that quote in his book about English, Mother Tongue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-name-for-czech-republic/3045.md?page=3)