adjective from Birmingham, England. Both the city of Birmingham and its inhabitants can be called 'Brum'. From Brummagem; the local spelling was a phonetic reflection of the local pronunciation: 'Brummagem' = Bromwichham (after Bromwich), in turn a corruption of Brimidgeham, the old form of Birmingham. Brummagem has an obsolete sense as 'counterfeit, inferior or fake' (of coins, antiques, etc.) as Birmingham was a centre of manufacture for such articles in the C17 and C18. Also, since 1954, used as a noun UK, 1941