Séamus since then. Though still used by some as a derogatory term, the great preponderance of Irish and Irish-American law enforcement officers led to a persisting stereotype, and the name "Shamus" continues to refer to Irish-American police and private detectives. Séamus Variant spellings include ', ', ', ', "Shaymus", "Sheamus" and "Shamus". Diminutives include ', ' and "". In the United States, the word "Shamus" is a derogatory slang misspelling of Séamus that arose during the 19th century as more than 4.5 million Irish immigrated to America, peaking at almost two million between 1845 and 1852 during ""The Great Hunger"" (Irish:
Rhyming slang and truncated to "Aris". Ghil'ad Zuckermann, a linguist and revivalist, has proposed a distinction between rhyming slang based on sound only, and phono-semantic rhyming slang, which includes a semantic link between the slang expression and its referent (the thing it refers to). An example of rhyming slang based only on sound is the Cockney "tea leaf" (thief). An example of phono-semantic rhyming slang is the Cockney "sorrowful tale" ((three months in) jail), in which case the person coining the slang term sees a semantic link, sometimes jocular, between the Cockney expression and its referent. The use of rhyming slang has