In the Ana Pana course (Leciono 7, Demandekzercoj) was the following sentence:

"Mi vizitis mian ĉinan amikinon. Kune ni urbumis, ekskursis kaj multe babilis kaj ridis"

Hmmm. Urbumis? Unless I missed it, the -um suffix hadn't been introduced yet, but since I knew it from elsewhere, I took a guess that urbumis was equivalent to the English slang expression "did the town".

Later, I had second thoughts, tried wiktionary, and found it means nothing more than "went into the city".

Hmmmm. Does -um really need to be hauled out for such a pedestrian phrase? Why not just "iris al la urbo" or "alurbis" if one really, really wants a single word for it?

I'd think -um would be for something more difficult or slangy.

Bruso:In the Ana Pana course (Leciono 7, Demandekzercoj) was the following sentence:

"Mi vizitis mian ĉinan amikinon. Kune ni urbumis, ekskursis kaj multe babilis kaj ridis"

Hmmm. Urbumis? Unless I missed it, the -um suffix hadn't been introduced yet, but since I knew it from elsewhere, I took a guess that urbumis was equivalent to the English slang expression "did the town".

Later, I had second thoughts, tried wiktionary, and found it means nothing more than "went into the city".

Hmmmm. Does -um really need to be hauled out for such a pedestrian phrase? Why not just "iris al la urbo" or "alurbis" if one really, really wants a single word for it?

I'd think -um would be for something more difficult or slangy.

My only guess is that 'urbumi' is closer to going "out on the town" than it is to "went into town". I alurbas on my way to work, but I only urbumas when I'm going shopping or going to a bar, etc. This is of course my personal interpretation.

The vortaro of Lernu also shows "to browse in town" as the translation.

I would understand "urbumi" as meaning "did the town" or "enjoyed the town". There is no need to be very, very specific. I would suspect that "city folk" could "vilaĝumi" or "kamparumi". In the US, there are "dude ranches" which are "ranĉoj por urbanoj kiuj volas ferii en vakera etoso" or "ranch-hotels for city slickers who want to vacation with the cowboys". If someone comes to visit me and speaks Esperanto, I might ĉiĉeroni them around Miami - in which case maybe we could say "miami-umi" together, since I always discover new and exciting things when I hit the big town (Miami for me). I am sure that New Yorkers (who pretend to be very upset about our slow pace - they say we are "laid back" Esp: 'malrapidumaj' or 'lantumaj'?) actually enjoy "floridumi" and show off their sun tans when they get back to the Big Apple.

I've read about the suffix but never used it, so o thought this word meant to become urbanized.