ATDTDA (2): "just an old gumshoe guy" (45.7)
Tim Strzechowski
dedalus204 at comcast.net
Sun Feb 11 20:30:49 CST 2007
[...] Lew, I'm just an old gumshoe guy [...] (p. 45).
[...] [T]he term "gumshoe" was a tribute to the sticking power of a PI -- "you can't get them off. They stick." Cute explanation, but we weren't sure of its veracity. We read on.
The next theory suggests that the name originated from the gum-rubber soles on the shoes worn by detectives and PIs way back when. The rubber soles allowed the investigator to move quietly and avoid detection. Sounded plausible, but still we persisted in our investigation.
The final theory offered on the page suggested that the term originated because private investigators did so much walking in bad neighborhoods to interview people and gather information that they inevitably ended up with gum on their shoes. Hmmm, sounded a little suspect to us. [...]
http://ask.yahoo.com/20011002.html
Originally, gumshoe referred to a shoe with a rubber sole, specifically, galoshes or (more relevant to our purposes) sneakers. The senses of gumshoe leading to the 'private detective' sense all have to do with the idea that rubber-soled shoes give the wearer the ability to walk stealthily.
The earliest examples show gumshoe used as an adjective meaning 'being a stealthy or surreptitious thief or tracker', and thus 'being a plainclothes police officer or a private detective'. This adjective is first recorded in 1900 and occurs a number of times before 1910. A secondary sense of the adjective, found at about the same time, is '(of actions or activities) carried out stealthily or surreptitiously' (e.g., "No gumshoe democratic campaign in Nebraska," from a 1904 newspaper).
The noun in the sense 'a plainclothes police officer; (usually) a private detective' is first recorded in 1906, as your source notes. Less frequent noun senses are 'a police officer' and the military use 'an intelligence officer or a spy'.
Some additional uses: the verb gumshoe 'to come or go stealthily; sneak', from 1902; 'to work as a private detective', from 1908; gum, gumfoot, gumboot, and gumheel, all meaning 'a private detective; and gumshoe artist and gumshoer, both also meaning 'a private detective'.
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19981110
http://www.word-detective.com/030299.html#gumshoe
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