MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Does “Bah! Humbug!” Really Mean?
Ever heard the phrase, “Bah! Humbug!” around Christmastime & wonder what it means? The most famous examples of the phrase come from Charles Dickens’s timeless 1843 tale, A Christmas Carol, in which the curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge regularly proclaims “Bah! Humbug!” when referring to Christmas. Since Scrooge particularly hates the otherwise happy holiday, it’s easy to assume “Humbug!” is just a way to convey dislike or disdain for something. It’s certainly how humbug is used most often nowadays. For example, anyone who refers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as “not real cinema”, you might say they have a bah-humbug attitude. But the term humbug didn’t originate with ol’ Scrooge. And, in fact, he actually meant something more specific than just “I hate Christmas!” when he said it.
While its true origins aren’t clear, “humbug” first showed up in an issue of The Oxford & Cambridge Monthly Miscellany back in 1750, where it seemed to have been trendy slang coined by the cool kids of the era. While it was slang, humbug was used widely enough that its definition is clear. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, humbug refers to a “hoax; a jesting or befooling trick,” as well as “any thing which is not really what it pretends to be,” such as a sham or fraud. Over time, however, folks began using humbug to just mean general nonsense on the whole.
Scrooge repeatedly calls Christmas “humbug” because he thinks Christmas tricks people into feeling joyful & grateful when they have nothing to be cheery about or thankful for. Scrooge also believed society uses Christmas as an excuse to wrangle money out of wealthy people like him, which is why he refused to donate to a Christmas collection for the poor. Shortly after, Scrooge complains about having to pay his clerk, Bob Cratchit, for an entire day off, calling it “a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every 25th of December!”
Basically, old Scrooge considered Christmas a financial & emotional scam on a global scale. But, at least WE know that’s not true. Right? Christmas is whatever you make of it, which hopefully will be the polar opposite of a humbug, each & every year…and this Christmas, especially.
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Wake Up Crew Highlights: December 22, 2021
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Do We Kiss Under The Mistletoe?
Mistletoe is a strange plant. Certain varieties are poisonous, with their toxic white berries being able to cause a variety of digestive issues. It’s also a parasitic plant, attaching itself onto other trees to steal their water & nutrients. Mistletoe seeds are then dispersed by birds that eat its berries, allowing the plant to grow on branches high above the shade, all while freeloading on other trees’ sunlight. So, why do we kiss under bunches of a cunning, toxic plants each Christmas?
Third-century Christians integrated mistletoe into their celebrations as the religion spread across Europe. But the ritual actually predates Christianity, going all the way back to the Norse god Baldur. The 2nd son of Odin, and the god of truth and light, Baldur was so beloved by the other gods that they wanted to protect him from all the dangers of the world. So, his mother, the goddess Frigg, got fire & water, iron & all other metals, stones & earth, trees, sicknesses & poisons, and from all 4-footed beasts & birds of the air, to swear oaths that they would never harm Baldur in any way. With those oaths, the beautiful god was supposed to be invincible. So, what does that have to do with mistletoe? I’m getting there…
There was a large gathering held later on, where stones, arrows, and flame were all thrown at Baldur to test his might. None of the attacks worked, and Baldur walked away unharmed. Well, the mischievous Loki, who was jealous of Baldur’s powers, set out to find the one thing that might hurt him. And Loki eventually found that goddess Frigg forgot to ask the lowly & forgotten-about mistletoe to not to harm her dear son. Ultimately, Loki used a mistletoe dart to murder Baldur, right there in front of all the other gods who loved him so dearly. Nice guy, Loki!
Frigg was, of course, devastated, as any mother would be. And her tears are said to have become the berries of the mistletoe plant. It was then decreed by the Norse gods that mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon, and that the goddess, Frigg, would place a kiss on anyone who passed under it.
So, even all these many years later, that’s why we hang mistletoe underneath our doorways around the holidays: so that we never overlook its power ever again.
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!
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Wake Up Crew Highlights: December 21, 2021
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Do Kids In Other Countries Leave Cookies & Milk For Santa?
Most families that celebrate Christmas here in the US leave out cookies & milk for Santa & carrots for his reindeer. But is that a worldwide habit? What do other countries provide as snack food for Santa? Well actually, the big guy doesn’t spend his entire 24-hour present-delivery schedule eating only cookies & milk.
Santa actually starts his trek down under in Australia. And what better way to kick off the holiday than with an ice-cold beer?! There’s always a beer (and sometimes cookies & milk). But the beer is key!
Then, it’s a long flight from Australia to Sweden, so kids leave out coffee for Tomte, as St. Nick is called there.
Santa’s probably hungry again by the time he makes it to Denmark, which is why kids there leave out rice pudding. Santa needs his carbs for energy, after all!
In The Netherlands, kids don’t leave Santa treats. They leave treats for his horse, Sinterklaas, like carrots, hay, and water. I guess the reindeer don’t fly everywhere.
In France, Santa gets biscuits, while his reindeer get carrots. French kids leave these treats in their shoes & in the morning they’re replaced with small toys.
In the UK, Santa gets mince pies, which are basically meat pies, that are hearty, delicious, perfect after all the sweets during the early part of his journey.
Once he heads over to Ireland, Santa gets to tip one back once again, as the Irish leave out a pint of Guinness for Mr. Kringle. (Which hopefully means Santa’s upgraded to a self-driving sleigh to avoid drinking & driving for his trip over the ocean!
And in Chile, Santa has rum-filled sponge cake to look forward to once he reaches South America, which sounds like the perfect way to round out his night.
Whatever kind of cookie you leave out for Santa, I’m sure he’ll love & appreciate them. Just don’t forget the milk.
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!
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House of the Week 12/17/21
