Uim-Bog

We are thinking now, Pliny the Elder and I, about the origin of the word humbug. Pliny has already come across some interesting suggestions.

It seems, says Pliny, that 'humbug' may derive from old Norse, 'hum', meaning night, and a Biblical reference to 'bugges', meaning bogey, or an apparition.

That's a funny name for a sweet, I say, perplexed.

We have not yet come to the mystery of the naming of the sweet, says Pliny, seriously. This refers to the origin of the word humbug meaning hoax, jest or deception.

Oh, I say, and are there any other suggestions, because I don't think much of that one.

Yes, says Pliny. In England in the 18th century, to hum meant to deceive. This may have been combined with the Celtic word 'bwg', meaning ghost.

Bwg! I like that. But shouldn't you pronounce it 'bug' ?

Probably, says Pliny. I stand corrected. However there is another school of thought that favours an Italian origin for humbug. It is thought to derive from 'uomo bugiardo' which means a lying man.

That's a good one, I agree. It certainly sounds a bit like humbug when you say it fast.

Indeed, but how about this? says Pliny. Uim-bog is Irish for soft copper, or worthless money.

Uim-bog. No, that doesn't sound very much like humbug, Pliny. But perhaps you're pronouncing it wrong. You're saying wim-bog, but what if you say it like um-bog?

Oh yes, um-bog, um-bog, um-bog, says Pliny, experimentally.

That's probably it then, I say, unless you've got a better one?

Well, says Pliny, it seems the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica suggested it might derive from Hamburg, the source of falsely minted coins during the Napoleonic wars.

Bah! Hamburg! I say, trying not to laugh. That's very unconvincing. But, wait, did you say falsely minted? That may be our connection to the sweets!