humbug

noun

1. (countable, slang)A hoax, jest, or prank.

   “The profeſſor of the modern Humbugg, for ſuch is the polite name of this qualification, muſt either have from nature an unalterable countenance, or from art a power of commanding all its ſucceſſive variations, and preſerving it inviolably in each, as long as the present ſituation of the caſe renders it neceſſary: he muſt have a head full of imagination, and a heart empty of every trace of candor and humanity.”

2. (countable, slang)A fraud or sham; (uncountable) hypocrisy.

   “Look at the affairs of nations on the widest scale—look at their intercourse with each other—look at the manifestoes, by which war is declared—look at the treaties, by which peace is restored—look at the professions of kings, or popes, or generals, or ministers. Is not cant, humbug, hypocrisy, the staple of them all? What is modern diplomacy, but a system of duplicity and deceit?”

   “What is the civility of the landlord and his waiters but humbug? What the smirking, smiling, ducking and bowing of the shopkeeper, but humbug? What his sweet and gentle "yes, sirs," and "no, sirs," and "proud to serve you, sirs," but humbug? You are not goose enough to believe for a moment that he is serious, that he has either the least regard or respect for you.”

   “Many times a whole audience will not only be crowded into a small room, but are noisy disbelievers, call it all a humbug, distract the mind of the magnetizer, and added to these, absolutely outwill the magnetizer, in their wish to bring odium upon the science, and carry their points and gain their ends.”

   “[Phineas Taylor] Barnum turned profits detecting humbug, staging humbugs, and in authoring books that present him as a humbug. In each case he operated by aestheticizing humbug: in writing tongue-in-cheek "reform" literature about avoiding humbug, in creating narratives or mythologies to advertise his own humbugs, and in celebrating in prose his own ability to balance contradictory roles.”

3. (countable, slang)A cheat, fraudster, or hypocrite.

   “He is a political humbug, the greatest of all humbugs; a man who swaggers about London clubs and consults solemnly about his influence, and in the country is a nonentity.”

   “All poets are humbugs, all literary men are humbugs; directly a man begins to sell his feelings for money he’s a humbug.”

   “[I]n a few days my new groom came. He was a tall, good-looking fellow enough; but if ever there was a humbug in the shape of a groom, Alfred Smirk was the man. He was very civil to me, and never used me ill; in fact, he did a great deal of stroking and patting, when his master was there to see it. […] [B]ut as to cleaning my feet, or looking to my shoes, or grooming me thoroughly, he thought no more of that, than if I had been a cow.”

   ““Hush, my dear,” he said. “Don’t speak so loud, or you will be overheard—and I should be ruined. I’m supposed to be a Great Wizard.” “And aren’t you?” she asked. “Not a bit of it, my dear; I’m just a common man.” “You’re more than that,” said the Scarecrow, in a grieved tone; “you’re a humbug.” “Exactly so!” declared the little man.”

   “He means that he has sold out to the parliamentary humbugs and the bourgeoisie. Compromise! that is his faith.”

4. (slang, uncountable)Nonsense.

   “But let me tell Warner, and all ether geniuses of his cast, that such inventions are all a humbug. Such, tactics and tools are all to short-sighted and short-bit­ted for the work proposed.”

   “When they had gone, Ma Potter opened her eyes. She said, "Pay no attention, child. Don't upset yourself. Just humbug, that's all." / "What do you mean?" Cora whispered. […] "You mean, telling lies?" / "Not altogether. Humbuggery is what people talk without thinking. Lies are deliberate. Are you a clever child?"”

5. (British, countable)A type of hard sweet (candy), usually peppermint flavoured with a striped pattern.

   “[…] and if Albert Dykes wasn't sucking a mint humbug, my nose is not what it is and always has been.”

   “Humbugs are sweet, hard candies with a mild peppermint flavor, which are traditionally made in small batches by hand. […] Humbugs often feature the old-fashioned peppermint-stripe coloration, dark brown and off-white; are usually oblong or square (about the size of your thumb); […]”

   “At half past five in the evening, Anpa sat up in bed and said he'd like a packet of humbugs. Nick and Kate looked at each other and grinned, and Nick immediately picked up his jacket and said he'd go and find some. 'Is he allowed them?' Kate whispered so that Anpa couldn't hear her. / Nick shrugged. 'Can't see how humbugs will do any harm. But I might get soft mints instead so he doesn't choke on them.'”

6. (US, countable, slang)Anything complicated, offensive, troublesome, unpleasant or worrying; a misunderstanding, especially if trivial.
7. (US, countable, slang)A fight.

   “Yet, for all the ferocity, the fights were short-lived. Every group except the Vice Kings, who had been most threatened, were brought under control fairly quickly and stayed to see the basketball game—only the Vice Kings missed it. Moreover, despite talk of retaliation, the humbug was self-contained; […]”

   “[page 197] A "humbug" (gang fight) that took place at the Chicago Amphitheater involved both threats to the newly acquired adult status of a gang leader (he had just turned 21 years old) and to group identity among rival gangs. […] [page 198] The humbug provided grist for the mill of individual and group status within the status universe of fighting gangs. In the months that followed no more humbugging between any of these gangs took place, however.”

   “Actually we were just looking for something to do because we didn't have any reason to keep out of trouble. All we could do was just drink scrap iron, smoke reefers, and look for a humbug. There was nothing to occupy our minds.”

8. (US, countable, dated, slang)A gang.
9. (US, countable, slang)A false arrest on trumped-up charges.

   “"Let's talk first, Mr. Brown," Sergeant Murillo said. "Do you remember telling these officers you were going to sue them for false arrest?" / Bootsie Brown paused with the cookie halfway to his lips and said, "I mighta. It was a humbug arrest. That's why they let me and Axel outta jail in forty-eight hours. We was jist tryin' to have an Irish wake for good old Coleman."”

   “I pulled the initial investigation report. I see who arrested him and I knew it was a humbug. A humbug is a bullshit arrest. No Police Officer likes to believe they exist; however sometimes it was a fact of life.”

10. (countable, slang)The piglet of the wild boar.

    “Many have been cross-bred with commercial breeds such as Tamworths, producing a "superbreed" of fertile boar, which were "more robust", and could produce five or six young. known as humbugs, per litter.”

intj

1. (slang)Balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!

   “[Mr. Clarendon] Steady. Aristotle laughs at you. / [Mr. Algernon Sidney] Twist. He's an impertinent fellow! I say again—Liberty! freedom! glory! / Steady. Humbug! humbug! humbug!”

   “Then each mentioned some fact, some fantastic presentiment, some instance of souls communicating with each other across space, or some case of the secret influence of one being over another. They asserted and maintained that these things had actually occurred, while the sceptic angrily repeated: / "Humbug! humbug! humbug!"”

verb

1. (ambitransitive, slang)To play a trick on (someone), to cheat, to swindle, to deceive.

   “Here's a Humbugger come, / Will prove the reſt nothing at all, / 'Tis a Jobber, a Factor, / A damn'd Corn Contractor, / Who makes all our Loaves be ſo ſmall; […] And may all ſuch elves, / Be thus Humbugg'd themſelves, / Who thus are Humbugging the poor: / And as ſure as the Bone makes the Cleaver to ſound, / Humbugging, Humbugging goes all the world round.”

   “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.”

   “A theatrical man or showman has to humbug people. If he doesn't humbug them, they are humbugged.”

   “"Good heavens!" he managed to articulate, "how do you know?" "Isn't that what you wanted of me?" asked Carrados suavely. "Don't humbug, Max," said Carlyle severely. "This is no joke."”

2. (US, slang)To fight; to act tough.
3. (obsolete, slang)To waste time talking.