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:
A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English Partridge dictionary; this edition is, however, completely new and unrelated to the previous versions. A concise edition was published in 2007. It has about 60,000 entries, and "contains every entry in New Partridge as well as several hundred new words that have come into the slang lexicon since 2005", but omits the extensive citations of the 2005 edition, thus coming bound in slightly over 700 pages of only one volume compared to over 4000 pages for the unabridged, two-volume edition. A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is a dictionary of slang originally