Humbug
Humbug is a person or thing that tricks or deceives or talks or behaves in a way that is deceptive, dishonest, false, or insincere, often a hoax or in jest. While the term was first described in 1751 as student slang, its etymology is unknown. It is now also often used as an exclamation to mean 'nonsense' or 'gibberish'. When referring to a person, a humbug means a fraud or impostor, implying an element of unjustified publicity and spectacle. In Britain, the term is also used for certain types of candy.
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Famous quotes containing the word humbug:
“There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to “realize” myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have “succeeded” this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is “realizable.” Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)
“In regard to women, as in many other respects, there was a good deal of humbug about ... chivalry.”
—O. L., U.S. women’s magazine contributor. The Woman’s Magazine, pp. 265-6 (January 1888)