Bum steer

If Jack gave Jill a stock market tip that caused her to lose rather than gain money, Jill might tell Jack at their next meeting, “Hey, you gave me a bum steer!”

Did Jack give her a lame castrated male cow? Or a male cow that was lazy or just down on his luck? If Jack laughs instead of being sympathetic, might Jill use a stronger mule-related epithet to describe him?

Though the origin of the phrase “bum steer” is uncertain, dictionaries and phrase finders generally agree the “steer” in question is not the noun referring to a castrated bull, nor even one related to the financial slang term for extreme optimism in the money market. Rather the “steer” refers to guiding someone or something in a given direction—steer clear of that grizzly bear!

The “bum” is probably derived from the German word “Bummler,” meaning loafer or idle person. In the Jack and Jill context above, “bum” seems more likely an offshoot of “bummer” from 1960s slang meaning something undesirable or unpleasant. In other words, if someone gives a bum steer, it means misleading information.

Nonetheless, puns on the word “steer” apparently are too good to pass up, especially in Texas, land of the longhorns. In 1976 the magazine “Texas Monthly” instituted an annual “Bum Steers Awards.” While political follies account for the majority of the awards, the dubious accolades also extend to “disreputable moments, lowest jinks, outrageous events, and preposterous personalities” occurring in Texas during the previous year. For example, listed under the category “2021 (Dis)honorable Mentions / The Rest of the Herd” was a local demolition contractor who mistakenly razed a century-old Craftsman bungalow located two blocks from the roofless house that was supposed to be demolished.

Even punnier, a website called “Rolls off the Tongue” created a double pun with a cartoon of a man wearing a bull’s head and hooves sitting despondently in an alley amid empty tin cans and other trash. A cartoon balloon asks, “What happened to you?” He answers, “I was too bullish on the market.” In other words, he is a bum steer because of a bum steer.