Pumpernickel means "devil's fart", a definition accepted by the publisher Random House, and by some English language dictionaries, including the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary adds "so named from being hard to digest". A variant of this explanation is also given by the German etymological dictionary "Kluge" that says the word is older than its usage for the particular type of bread, and may have been used as a mocking name for a person of unrefined manners ("farting Nick") first. The change of meaning may have been caused by its use as a mocking expression for the (in the eyes
The Scarlet Pumpernickel "J.L." - called "The Scarlet Pumpernickel", which he wrote himself (under the name "Daffy Dumas Duck.") As Daffy reads the script to J.L., the cartoon cuts away to various scenes and then back to J.L.'s office. Each time, Daffy announces a page number. By the cartoon's end, the script has exceeded 2,000 pages (movie scripts much in excess of 100 pages were usually rejected as too long back in those days). In this script, the clumsy Scarlet Pumpernickel (Daffy) constantly outsmarts the Lord High Chamberlain's (Porky Pig) men, to the Chamberlain's fury and the delight of the Fair Lady Melissa.