Comments on: Giant coffee cup, about to tump over!

By: Glenda

Glenda — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:14:33 +0000

The liquid in the cup will be tumped out (frequently more emphatically “tumped out all over the place”) after the cup itself is tumped over. You can also skip the verb particle altogether in some cases, like “Careful, you’re fixin’ to tump the paint right out of that bucket.”

Tump is kinda like tumble and spill mixed together.

In Austin, we use it as a way of detecting the origin of other Texans:
* Houstonians and folks from East Texas know tump.
* People from Dallas give you a funny look when you use it.

Other tips for using tump fluently:
* Kids can get tumped off of a tricycle or a swing. Adults, however, do not get tumped off a bike.
* Tumping is almost always inconsequential, so you never say that a cargo ship had tumped oil into the Gulf. (So in the example above, the bucket full of paint is being carried in the backyard, not carried across the living room carpet.)

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:11:21 +0000

brundlefly: No, “tump” is always used with “over.” I grew up in Mobile, Alabama, one of the few places where the phrase is in common use. “That trash can tumped over.” “Watch it, you’re about to tump over my CoCola!”

By: Todd

Todd — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:34:02 +0000

Isn’t there one of these at Lynn’s Cafe?

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:58:41 +0000

Shouldn’t you have simply said “about to tump?” Wouldn’t “tump over” mean “fall over over?” Like ATM machine? Or PIN number? Am I a pedant? I believe I am!