What does bummer mean？

[Mike12345]

Hello teachers

I made an appointment with a friend. But because I had something to do, I changed the time we had made. Then he said "Bummer "to me. Could you please tell me what "Bummer " means here? Thanks!

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello teachers

I made an appointment with a friend. But because I had something to do, I changed the time we had made. Then he said "Bummer "to me. Could you please tell me what "Bummer " means here? Thanks!

Have you checked a dictionary? It can be an expression of disappointment.

See here: bummer - definition of bummer by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

 

[Mike12345]

Thank you! I have checked it. I just get confused if the person was angry with me or not when he said bummer to me

 

[emsr2d2]

I doubt they were angry, just disappointed. It means "What a shame" or "What a pity" or "I'm disappointed".

 

[Barb_D]

I agree completely about this use, but wanted to add that it can also be used to mean "that must be disappointing for you" instead of "I am disappointed for myself." (That is not the case here, but if you tell someone something that is a disappointment, "Oh, dude... bummer!" is an expression of sympathy.)

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

Is "bummer" a common word? I've never heard or seen it. I just wonder whether you say it or not.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Is "bummer" a common word? I've never heard or seen it. I just wonder whether you say it or not.

In AmE, the younger one is, the more common is the use. But it is not rare because it became common in the 1960s.

 

[Barb_D]

I'm not that young, but it's part of my daily vocabulary.
It must be all the disappointments in my life.

 

[emsr2d2]

I use it too, though usually as part of "What a bummer" or "It's/It was such a bummer" rather than just the single word.

 

[Tdol]

I use it sparingly- I must be lucky.

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Bummer" has 2 definitions in dictionaries. The first is "loafer, idler, beggar" derived from "bum". The second is "bad experience", probably derived from a "bum" experience from hallucinogens.

When one looks at an Ngram of bummer, one sees a bimodal curve, one peak occurring between 1860 and 1910, the other occurring after 1960 and continuing to the present. It appears that the word started with the first definition and then changed rather abruptly to the second. Interesting.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1;,bummer;,c0