A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address
To an American speaker this expression evokes a thoroughly worthless person, someone who is despised. It has less force to a British speaker, who would use it to imply that someone was insignificant. ‘Crumby’, as in a vocative expression such as ‘you crumby bastard’, also varies in meaning according to the speaker.
The spelling may also change to ‘crummy’. It can mean ‘lousy’—literally infested with lice—dirty or insignificant. ‘You crumb’ occurs in Daughters of Mul-berry, by Roger Longrigg, but is more friendly than insulting in context. It is also used by one boy to another in On the Loose, by John Stroud, where it expresses contempt for the general ignorance of the boy addressed.
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