Z etymologii polskiej (5): bimber

Abstract

The article deals with the Polish word bimber, i.e. ‘alcohol of poor quality smoked illegally by home means with primitive equipment; samogon’. Its chronology, geography and etymology are presented in the paper. As concerns the origin of the word, the three most popular interpretations are discussed in the article, ultimately favouring the concept proposed by A. Bańkowski, who sees here the effect of a semantic change of the jargon bimber ‘watch’ > ‘samogon’. The author of the article adds more facts and information to the theory of the etymologist from Częstochowa from Russian and Ukrainian criminal jargons of the first half of the 19th century and focuses on the semantic nuances of a rather unusual change of meaning ‘watch’, ‘fine jewellery made of silver and gold’ > ‘samogon’.