Pop Culture dictionary
Bah humbug
or Bah! Humbug! [ bah huhm-产耻丑驳听]
黑料网 does bah humbug mean?
Bah humbug is an exclamation that conveys curmudgeonly displeasure. The phrase is most famously used by Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character in Charles Dickens鈥檚 A Christmas Carol (1843).
Where does Bah humbug come from?
The origin of the word humbug is unknown, though it is clear that it emerged in mid-18th century England. The first known use of humbug in print was in 1751 in The Student, or the Oxford and Cambridge Monthly Miscellany, which calls the term 鈥渁 word very much in vogue with the people of taste and fashion.鈥� The Universal Jester: Or, a Pocket Companion for the Wits by Ferdinando Killigrew is another early example (1754): 鈥渕erry conceits, facetious drolleries, &c., clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots and humbugs.鈥� In the original sense from both these early sources, a humbug was a 鈥渢rick鈥� or a 鈥�hoax.鈥�
Humbug鈥檚 sense of 鈥�deceit鈥� associated it with 鈥渘onsense鈥� and 鈥渂other鈥� by the early 19th century, when Dickens was writing. With the publication of his A Christmas Carol in 1843, the most popular phrase including the word humbug became the exclamation Bah! Humbug!, the catchphrase of the miserly main character Ebenezer Scrooge.
厂肠谤辞辞驳别鈥檚 bah is an exclamation of contempt or annoyance. Since then, bah humbug has come to invoke 厂肠谤辞辞驳别鈥檚 (initial) grouchy attitude toward Christmas in other contexts.
Examples of Bah humbug
Who uses Bah humbug?
Today, because bah humbug is so well-recognized as 厂肠谤辞辞驳别鈥檚 cranky exclamation, people use the term knowing that its message of anti-holiday cheer is widely understood, with humbug itself becoming a synonym for a curmudgeon. The expression enjoys a variety of allusive use across speech and writing, especially during the Christmas season.
Right, I'm officially sick of Xmas adverts.
— Debbie Cameron (@wordspinster)
People use bah humbug to bemoan the elements of popular holidays, events, or cheery situations they don鈥檛 like (or grudgingly come to enjoy), often implying that they鈥檙e older than the celebrants. Bah humbug is also issued as an interjection to reject an idea, especially during the Christmas holiday season.
Users sometimes extend bah humbug as a verb, to bah humbug, colloquially 鈥渢o pour cold water on something,鈥� 鈥渢o complain one鈥檚 way through some experience,鈥� or 鈥渢o be treated with cold stinginess.鈥� Such attitudes are sometimes called bah humbuggery. (Humbug and humbuggery were similarly extended in the past.)
Confession that may make U hate me: my yearly ambition is to ignore T-giving, & this year I am achieving it. Bah humbug!
— Victoria Strauss (@victoriastrauss)
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Bah humbug like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Bah humbug that will help our users expand their word mastery.