(Disney’s A Christmas Carol: Bah Humbug exclamation from Donald Duck, video above)

While many attribute the origin of the phrase “Bah Humbug!” to none other than Charles Dickens’ a Christmas Carol, the phrase was not truly coined by the author. Humbug is an old word similar to “hoax” or “nonsense”. Saying “humbug!” would be akin to the phrase “you jest!”. In 1751 the term humbug was described as student slang, but its true etymology remains unknown.