scum vs yellow dog

scum

noun
  • A reprehensible person or persons. 

  • Semen. 

  • A layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid (especially molten metal or water). 

  • A greenish water vegetation (such as algae), usually found floating on the surface of ponds 

  • The topmost liquid layer of a cesspool or septic tank. 

verb
  • To remove (something) as scum. 

  • To startscum or savescum. 

  • To remove the layer of scum from (a liquid etc.). 

  • To become covered with scum. 

yellow dog

noun
  • An item or person of low value. 

  • Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see yellow, dog. 

  • A Carolina dog. 

How often have the words scum and yellow dog occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )