Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Out of Standard: Humbug Origins

Scrooge. Image courtesy of WikiCommons.




Welcome back to Out of Standard, where I will call upon you to write out of the standard and find new places in the everyday.  It is in that spirit in which I present today's challenge...


Humbug: Origins

Ebenezer Scrooge made "Bah Humbug" famous in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carroll. But the phrase existed before Dickens' time. According to the 1911 Classic Encyclopedia, Humbug dates back to the mid-1700s and is synonymous with a hoax or a sham. When Scrooge used it in A Christmas Carol, he was commenting that Christmas was a hoax or deception. In fact, this is not the only literary use of the phrase, as the venerable Wizard of Oz declares himself to be “just a humbug.” And through time, many have forgotten that the phrase meant anything at all, simply associating it was a bad attitude about Christmas. 

The Prompt

Use "humbug" in poem not related to winter, christmas, or holidays.  Extra points for adding the "Bah" to it!  



KEEP IN MIND 
Like every challenge, your poem must by newly written for this challenge and not one which you have previously written which conveniently fits the theme.  

So go now, my muddy buddies, and bring us back something shiny and new. 



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great challenge, Isadora, the wind must have been singing it when it woke me so early this morning. Careful with the hyper-holiday cheer -- yule be sorry! :)

Kerry O'Connor said...

This is a poem I started a few months back, but it stalled. Your prompt has given me the motivation to revisit it. Thanks, Izy.

Susan said...

I couldn't resist. Wishing Happy Holidays with great eats and good friends to all in the Garden.

hedgewitch said...

Not a very Christmas-y offering I'm afraid, but a subject I've been wanting to write about for awhile--thanks, Izy, for giving me the inspiration here. And despite, everything, happy holidays to all.

Kay L. Davies said...

Izy– I used the word "humbug" without knowing it was posted as a Toads challenge. Does that count? It isn't even a poem, it's just something that happened while I took a break from preparing vegetables. So I won't put it in the toad link, but it can be found here:
http://unfittie.blogspot.ca/2014/12/a-humbug-helper-for-christmas-dinner.html
Luv,
K