humbug

Etymology
Origin ; the  (OED) states that “the facts as to its origin appear to have been lost, even before the word became common enough to excite attention”. It has been suggested that the word possibly derives from, or from +. In his Slang Dictionary (1864), English bibliophile and publisher (1832–1873) suggested a link to the name of the German city of, “from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century”, or alternatively a derivation from.

Hotten also said he had traced the earliest occurrence of the word to the title page of Ferdinando Killigrew’s book The Universal Jester (see quotations), which he dated to about 1735–1740. This dating has therefore been adopted by other dictionaries. However, the OED dates the word to about 1750, as the earliest edition of Killigrew’s work has been dated to 1754.

Noun

 * 1)  A hoax, jest, or prank.
 * 2)  A fraud or sham;  hypocrisy.
 * 3)  A cheat, fraudster, or hypocrite.
 * 4)  Nonsense.
 * 5)   A type of hard sweet (candy), usually peppermint flavoured with a striped pattern.
 * 6)  Anything complicated, offensive, troublesome, unpleasant or worrying; a misunderstanding, especially if trivial.
 * 7)  A fight.
 * 8)  A gang.
 * 9)  A false arrest on trumped-up charges.
 * 10)  The piglet of the wild boar.
 * 1)  Nonsense.
 * 2)   A type of hard sweet (candy), usually peppermint flavoured with a striped pattern.
 * 3)  Anything complicated, offensive, troublesome, unpleasant or worrying; a misunderstanding, especially if trivial.
 * 4)  A fight.
 * 5)  A gang.
 * 6)  A false arrest on trumped-up charges.
 * 7)  The piglet of the wild boar.
 * 1)   A type of hard sweet (candy), usually peppermint flavoured with a striped pattern.
 * 2)  Anything complicated, offensive, troublesome, unpleasant or worrying; a misunderstanding, especially if trivial.
 * 3)  A fight.
 * 4)  A gang.
 * 5)  A false arrest on trumped-up charges.
 * 6)  The piglet of the wild boar.
 * 1)  A gang.
 * 2)  A false arrest on trumped-up charges.
 * 3)  The piglet of the wild boar.
 * 1)  A gang.
 * 2)  A false arrest on trumped-up charges.
 * 3)  The piglet of the wild boar.
 * 1)  The piglet of the wild boar.
 * 1)  The piglet of the wild boar.

Translations

 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Esperanto: mistifiko
 * Finnish:, , ,
 * German:, , , Ulkerei
 * Maori: hamupaka
 * Romanian: ,
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:, , ,
 * Swedish: ,


 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Esperanto: trompo,
 * Finnish: ,
 * German: ,
 * Hungarian: ,
 * Italian:
 * Romanian:, ,
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:, ,
 * Swedish:


 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Esperanto: trompisto,
 * Finnish:, ,
 * German:, , ,
 * Maori: hamupaka
 * Romanian: ,
 * Russian:
 * Spanish: ,
 * Swedish: ,


 * Finnish:, ,
 * German:, dummes Zeug, fauler Zauber, , blanker Unsinn
 * Maori: rūpahu


 * German: Hartbonbon, Hartkaramelle

Interjection

 * 1)  Balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!

Derived terms

 * bah humbug

Verb

 * 1)  To play a trick on someone, to cheat, to swindle, to deceive.
 * 2) * 1810, Henry Brooke, “Epilogue on Humbugging”, in and, The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper; including the Series Edited, with Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Dr. Samuel Johnson: And the Most Approved Translations. The Additional Lives by Alexander Chalmers, F.S.A. In Twenty-one Volumes, volume XVII (Glover, Whitehead, Jago, Brooke, Scott, Mickle, Jenyns), London: Printed for J[ames] Johnson; [et al.],  460902446 , page 428:
 * Of all trades and arts in repute or possession, / Humbugging is held the most ancient profession. / Twixt nations, and parties, and state politicians, / Prim shopkeepers, jobbers, smooth lawyers, physicians, / Of worth and of wisdom the trial and test / Is—mark ye, my friends!—who shall humbug the best.
 * 1) * 1873 May 1, John F. French, “Farming—Present and Prospective”, in James O. Adams, New Hampshire Agriculture. Third Annual Report of the Board of Agriculture to His Excellency the Governor, Nashua, N.H.:, state printer, 659327991 , pages 204–205:
 * Then again farmers are shamefully, lamentably, sometimes almost ruinously humbugged. All classes it is true are humbugged to a certain extent, but farmers in my view suffer themselves to be fooled and swindled in this respect to a greater degree than any other class in the community. They are humbugged in seeds, humbugged in manures, humbugged in agricultural implements, humbugged by agents, humbugged by patent peddlers, humbugged by store-keepers, humbugged by politicians, humbugged by corporations, till finally, some of them are in danger of becoming little less than humbugs themselves.
 * 1)  To fight; to act tough.
 * 2)  To waste time talking.
 * 1)  To fight; to act tough.
 * 2)  To waste time talking.
 * 1)  To waste time talking.

Usage notes
The spellings and  exist, but are not nearly so common as  and.

Translations

 * German:, , ,

Etymology
From.

Etymology
.

Noun

 * , hoax