Word Confusion: Crumby vs Crumbly vs Crummy

Posted May 11, 2017 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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This arose from a debate with my sisters at Easter over something being crumby or crummy, and I figured we needed a Word Confusion.

It’s not like crumby is an oft-used word. ‘Prit near never is more like it. However, a crummy table would be more likely to be missing a leg, wobble, have words carved into it . . . you get the picture.

Now a crumby table is only temporarily, um, crummy, until its top is cleared of all those crumbs.

As for poor, neglected crumbly, it just popped up while I was looking up definitions, and I reckon it could make that table crummy, especially if woodworm had gotten to it and was making the wood go all crumbly.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Crumby	Crumbly	Crummy
Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumbs on Plate is Knoell8504’s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Yep, that’s a crumby plate, all right.	Raven’s Beak with Crumbly Cliff by David Hawgood is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	The Lousy Lousy Lounge, Tarawa, November 1943, is courtesy of the USMC Archives and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Yep, this looks like a crummy situation.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective Variant spelling of crummy	Adjective; Noun Plural for noun: crumblies	Adjective ¹; Noun ² Plural for noun: crummies ³ (ONLY) Variant of crumby
Like or covered in crumbs Full of or littered with crumbs Soft, like the inside of bread Full of crumbs	Adjective: Consisting of or easily breaking into small fragments Apt to crumble Easily crumbled Noun: [British slang] An older person	Informal Adjective: Dirty, unpleasant, or of poor quality ¹ Unwell Ill Loathsome Disgusting Lousy Of inferior quality Shoddy Cheap Noun: [North American] An old or converted truck used to transport loggers to and from work ² Another term for caboose
Examples:
“Clear off that crumby table, Melissa,” Hetty shouted. Why is your shirt all crumby? Have you been eating cookies! “I took a spoon for the crumbs from my box at noon, Grace loved cake, even the crumby kind” (Garis). “Liquids poured upon the surface cannot, owing to the crumby nature of the humus, exert any appreciable hydraulic pressure” (Poore).	Adjective: This cheese is so crumbly and moist. This looks like a friable crumbly soil. Noun: “Let’s go to the park and knock over some crumblies!”	Adjective: It was a crummy little room. I’m feeling crummy and want to get better. I hate this crummy cold! I’d be dead of the dirty monotony around this crummy neighborhood. This crummy razor doesn’t work. Where’d you get that crummy camera? Noun: “Get the boys up in the crummy. We gotta get to work,” the jack boss called out. Someone’s gotta clean out that crummy before the train leaves the station.
Derivatives:
	Adjective: crumblier, crumbliest, uncrumbly Noun: crumbliness	Adjective: crummier, crummiest Adverb: crummily Noun: crumminess
History of the Word:
It was first recorded in 1725–35: crumb + -y.	Its first known use was in 1523.	Pre-mid-19th century for a literal sense of crumbly and like or covered with crumbs. 1850s+. Only the noun is a plural.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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