Dictionary

Slumbay en · PROPN · etymology 1

Etymology

Earlier Slumba, Slumpa, from Middle English Slomba, from Scottish Gaelic Slumba, probably from Old Norse slaemr-vágr (“slim or small bay”). Alternatively, perhaps from Scottish Gaelic Slugag (“small pool”). Possibly influenced by bay.

Meanings

1. A crofting township which now forms the southern section of Lochcarron, on the north side of Loch Carron in Wester Ross, Highland council area, Scotland.
   • Passing the North Strome hostel I came by Slumbay to Lochcarron village, that used to be known as Jeantown. a. 1966, David E[rnest] T[omlinson] Bell, “Lost by Loch Eil”, in P. Blane, S. J. Hourston, J. B. Gambles, compilers, The Highway Man […], Ayr, Ayrshire: The Ayrshire Post, published 1970, →OCLC, page 78:
   • While these things were going on in the quiet township of Slumbay, the Fiery Cross appears to have been despatched over the neighbouring parishes; and from Kintail, Lochalsh, Applecross, and even Gairloch, the Highlanders began to gather yesterday with the view of helping the Slumbay men, if occasion should arise. Few of these reached Slumbay, but they were in small detachments in the neighbourhood ready at any moment to come to the rescue on the appearance of any hostile force. 1883, Alexander Mackenzie, quoting William Mackenzie, “Lochcarron”, in The History of the Highland Clearances; […], Inverness: A[lexander] & W[illiam] Mackenzie, →OCLC, page 332:
   • At the south-west end, where the road branches off to Applecross, Loch Carron runs into the twin village of Slumbay, which has a good harbour. 1968, W[illiam] H[utchison] Murray, “Loch Carron and Applecross”, in The Companion Guide to the West Highlands of Scotland: The Seaboard from Kintyre to Cape Wrath, London: Collins, →OCLC, page 286:
   • Hut circles on the hillsides above Loch Carron in Wester Ross tell of life long before the nearby coastal crofting and inshore fishing communities grew around the sheltered natural harbour of Slumbay. 2001, Robin Smith, “LOCHCARRON, Dalchuirn & Slumbay”, in Alan Lawson, editor, The Making of Scotland: A Comprehensive Guide to the Growth of its Cities, Towns and Villages, Edinburgh: Canongate Books, →ISBN, page 615, column 2:
   • The drive starts from the attractive village of Lochearron, which lines the shore of Inner Loch Carron. An unclassified road to the south-west leads past the small fishing harbour at Slumbay to Stromemore, where there are the ruins of Strome Castle. 1982, “Drive 11: Lochcarron 91 miles”, in Barry Francis, editor, Scotland: Where to Go, What to Do, Basingstoke, Hampshire: The Automobile Association, →ISBN, page 234, column 1:
   • A village in Wester Ross, Lochcarron lies on the natural harbour of Slumbay on the northern shore of Loch Carron, 2 miles (3 km) northeast of its mouth. 2006, David Munro, Bruce Gittings, “Lochcarron”, in Scotland: An Encyclopedia of Places & Landscape, London: Collins, →ISBN, page 309, column 1:
   • Follow the A896 to the village of Lochcarron. A minor road heads southwest, following the north shoreline of Loch Carron. This road leads through the village of Slumbay and eventually past the castle. 2000, Gerald M. Ruzicki, Dorothy A. Ruzicki, “Strome Castle”, in In Search of Ancient Scotland: A Guide for the Independent Traveler, Mead, Wash.: Aspen Grove Publishing, →ISBN, chapter 7 (Skye and the Northwest Highlands), page 184:
   • There is a little fishing harbour at Slumbay, to the southwest of the village. 1960, “Lochcarron”, in Illustrated Road Book of Scotland, London: The Automobile Association, published 1963, →OCLC, page 203, column 1:
   • Duncan M‘Lean, Slumbay, said that the local clergy were opposed to the land agitation, and that the Free Church minister of Plockton was reported to have made use of strong language in denouncing the agitation and those who took part in it. 1885 February 23, “Complaints of the Crofters of Lochcarron”, in The Glasgow Herald, 103rd year, number 46, Glasgow, →OCLC, page 10, column 1:

Slumbay en · PROPN · etymology 2

Etymology

Blend of slum + Bombay (the city's former name) with influence from bay, especially in later use with Mumbai.

Meanings

1. (derogatory) Derogatory name for Mumbai: a megacity, the capital of Maharashtra, India.
   • For example, Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is India’s financial and industrial capital and the fifth most populated city. Home to a global elite, property prices in the centre are extremely high. Among the obvious affluence, there is significant poverty with over half the city’s population living in slums. This situation has earned the city the name of ‘Slumbay’. [2009, Dawn Burton, “Distribution”, in Cross-cultural Marketing: Theory, Practice and Relevance, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 124:
   • To compete for international trade, many Indian politicians insist, Mumbai needs to transform itself from “Slumbay” into a showpiece. 2005 May 10, Brian Hutchinson, “Leaving ‘Slumbay’: Vancouver’s Minaean hopes its steel-built homes will give hope to Mumbai’s slum dwellers”, in National Post, volume 7, number 166, Toronto, Ont., →ISSN, →OCLC, page FP7, column 1:
   • Just as the American census bureau’s pronouncement had shocked Cleveland, in 2011 an announcement from the Indian census bureau stunned Mumbai: the population of Mumbai island, it found, was in decline. While growth in the wider suburban region continued, the migratory tides lapping up against the man-made island city had reversed. Presumably word had reached village India that the glowing vision of Mumbai they saw in Bollywood movies didn’t stack up with “Slumbay” realities. 2013, Daniel Brook, “Slumdogs and Millionaires: Bombay, 1991–Mumbai, Present”, in A History of Future Cities, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, pages 348–349:
   • Before the 2004 May elections, some prominent citizens of the city had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Mumbai High Court asking the election commissioner to disenfranchise the slum dwellers arguing that if they were living illegally, they could not be considered legal citizens of the city and therefore could not be eligible to vote. This was a move to label the dwellers of Slumbay as illegal (and hence criminals) and by that question the citizenship rights of a large section of city’s population. […] In the last fifty years of city’s development, from being a dream city it has become Slumbay, a city becoming more and more hostile to the migrant population, particularly low income ones and the poor. 2008, Darshini Mahadevia, Harini Narayanan, “Slumbay to Shanghai: Envisioning Renewal or Take Over?”, in Darshini Mahadevia, editor, Inside the Transforming Urban Asia: Processes, Policies and Public Actions, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, →ISBN, pages 95 and 126:
   • Yet even though the city’s majority population consists of slum-dwellers, they occupy merely 8 per cent of the city’s land. Mike Davis has therefore described Mumbai as ‘the global capital of slum dwellers’ (2007: 23), while some journalists nicknamed the city ‘Slumbay’ to hint at its melting-pot nature, in which extreme inequalities meet extreme scarcity of space. [2016, Igor Krstić, “Bombay Cinema”, in Slums on Screen: World Cinema and the Planet of Slums, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, →ISBN, part 2 (Local Expressions), page 225:
   • But the migrants are feared as the reputed source of crime and instability. There are warnings that “Bombay will become Slumbay”. 1996 June 1, John Gittings, “Slum dwellers of Bombay stand their ground”, in The Guardian, London, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16, column 5:

Relateds

Slumbai