Entry · catalog no. 2009
gum beater
/ ɡʌm ˈbiːtər /GUHM-bee-ter
noun · Harlem · 1940s
✓ Verified
1.
An idle talker; a windbag who talks to no purpose.
“Quit being a gum beater and say something with weight to it.”
Origin & Attribution
Harlem slang recorded in Zora Neale Hurston's glossary to "Story in Harlem Slang" (American Mercury, 1942), built from "beating up your gums" — talking to no purpose. A gum beater is all jaw and no cargo.
1942
In Hurston's glossary of Harlem slang
1940s
Common Harlem put-down for a windbag
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Harlem · 1940s
Spoken by
Harlem speakers
$GUMBEAThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Faded84 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
44/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1942
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
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Memphis, TN
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Citations & Sources
■
+ Cite a sourceZora Neale Hurston, "Story in Harlem Slang" (glossary), American Mercury — story · 1942
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See also