Plus Ça Change – July 5, 2026
I have a child use the word “yum” about the prospect of good food. A colleague asks, is that a period-correct term for 1822?
It isn’t. It turns out “yummy yummy” dates back to 1861. A diary entry written by an English journalist on an American slave ship attributes the phrase to an African slave being smuggled into the US. Because the African slave trade is illegal, but the domestic trade is just fine.
And off we go down the rabbit hole for an hour or so on the roots of the word “yum.” The hunt is on for what might be a period-correct term. Good thing I like rabbit holes.
This is a little kid, who cannot use a grown-up word like “delicious.”
I suspect the original of “yum” is likely to be somewhat onomatopoeic, “nom nom.” Lip smacking goodness.
The root might be West African word “nyam” meaning “to taste.” BUT… what language? There is no such thing as “West African.”
A bit more digging says, “Even in countries and their respective languages as far away as Senegal, the word for food is ‘nyami.’” In 1822 there is no Senegal. But we may be onto something. One source attributes the word to the Fula people of West Africa. But this is a (modern) very extensive group of people who speak several languages. Analogy, that’s like saying, “Oh, it’s European.” However, the Fula comprise (among several others) the Wolof. I have Marie tracing her ancestry to the Wolof nation in the Senegal region, so we’re in the right spot. Still, “nyami” isn’t going to mean anything to a reader.
How about Kouri-Vini, the Louisiana Creole language? Down another branch of the rabbit hole. My sources don’t have anything in this domain. Food words are descriptive (soup, stove, raw, etc). When I dig to find some colloquial translation for “yum” or “yummy”, I get “bon,” which shows the French roots, it’s good. Nothing remotely idiomatic like yummy.
So…
No, I’m not going to have a child say “delicious.”
No, I’m not going to use “nyami.”
No, I’m not going to use Kouri-Vini, since I can’t find a word.
I’m going to do what I knew up front, but I like digging because maybe there’s a better alternative. Not this time.
The kid will smack her lips.
