What is the origin of the word humbug?
From somewhere I heard the story that the origin of the word “Humbug” actually did have its root in science. From what I recall of the story, some long time ago some obscure biologist received national attention after returning from the Amazon or such a place with an insect incredible and new to science. This insect had the body of a cicada and was reported to hum loudly. It had the legs of a grasshopper and could jump some distance. It had the mandibles of a stag beetle and the tail of a scorpion. When the insect was inspected by entomologists it was unconvered as as a fake. The glue used to hold the body parts together gave it away. The newspapers all over published retractions – and thus, the term “Humbug” became synonymous with fraud. Such is my recollection.
