wantum

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English

Etymology 1

Eye dialect for want 'em.

Verb

wantum

  1. (imitating broken English) To want.
    • 1998, Arthur W. Upfield, The Bone is Pointed, →ISBN, page 82:
      Then he have wongie along Sargint in office feller. White blackfeller wantum know 'bout old Sarah, an' Sargint he tellum she goodoh.
    • 2003, Thomas Burke, More Limehouse Nights, →ISBN, page 126:
      Oh, ah — er — me wantum Chinkie just come in.
    • 2009, Richard M. Dixon, Choosing Sides, →ISBN, page 166:
      “You wantum eat? You wantum sleep? If you wantum eat you wakum up.”

Etymology 2

Blend of want +‎ quantum, coined by Nobel-winning Irish writer Samuel Beckett.

Noun

wantum (plural wantums)

  1. A quantifiable deficiency or desire
    • 1938, Samuel Beckett, Murphy:
      Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.
    • 1993, Harold N. Boris, Passions of the Mind: Unheard Melodies, →ISBN:
      A projection of “Wantum” requires, in the Couple, a reciprocal agreement on the part of the other to allow more than his own portion of Wantum to be discovered in him or herself.
    • 2004, Anthony Uhlmann, Sjef Houppermans, Bruno Clément, After Beckett, →ISBN, page 249:
      To use Wylie's phraseology: the quantum of this particular discursive wantum cannot vary.
    • 2014, Gregory Benford, Gregory Benford SF Gateway Omnibus: Artifact, Cosm, Eater, →ISBN:
      The desire to find something could provoke what she called 'wantum mechanics,' fishing a result out of nothing but noise.

Latin

Pronunciation

Noun

wantum

  1. accusative singular of wantus
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