ABSTRACT
Humbuggery and hype are alive and well in the third millennium. Seldom discussed or denounced, they are fast-spreading viruses influencing our popular culture.
No one knows where the term humbug originated. Appearing in English writings in the 1750s, humbug points to a hoax, fraud, or deception. Many encountered it when Scrooge spat out his disclaimer of Christmas in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol: "Bah! Humbug!"
