Pretentious or silly talk or writing

Usage examples of humbug.

A Socialist movement which can swing the mass of the people behind it, drive the pro-Fascists out of positions of control, wipe out the grosser injustices and let the working class see that they have something to fight for, win over the middle classes instead of antagonizing them, produce a workable imperial policy instead of a mixture of humbug and Utopianism, bring patriotism and intelligence into partnership -- for the first time, a movement of such a kind becomes possible.

But it would be as dangerous to rely on him to expose all the quacks, humbugs and bunkum in the world as it would be to believe those same charlatans.

It is time for this practice of around-the-world humbug and cheatery to stop right now.

Hardboileds, toffee, fudge and allsorts, crunches, cracknels, humbugs, glaciers, marzipan, and butterwelsh for the Welsh.

I hope you will remember my small show of compassion today, as vividly as you may remember any of my occasional humbugs and hoaxes, fobberies and fooleries.

Show Bizniss, which Ive stroven to ornyment, is bein usurpt by Poplar Lecturs, as thay air kalled, tho in my pinion thay air poplar humbugs.

And in the face of the accumulating stresses created by the maladjustments of Versailles, this galaxy of humbugs to whom democracy had entrusted the direction of human beings--humbugs unavoidably, for the system insisted upon it regardless of the best intentions--was equally enigmatical and impotent.

For the economic rationale of this, I must refer disciples of Siegfried to a tract from my hand published by the Fabian Society and entitled The Impossibilities of Anarchism, which explains why, owing to the physical constitution of our globe, society cannot effectively organize the production of its food, clothes and housing, nor distribute them fairly and economically on any anarchic plan: nay, that without concerting our social action to a much higher degree than we do at present we can never get rid of the wasteful and iniquitous welter of a little riches and a deal of poverty which current political humbug calls our prosperity and civilization.

If he was amused at the ease with which fools can be humbugged, he must also have been astounded at the awful villainy of those who, perfect strangers to him, had perjured themselves for the sake of notoriety.

He even called the astute Terrapin a humbug, and toward midnight grew quarrelsome.

When Auris wanted to know what people somewhere were talking about, she sent the humbugs off to listen.

He heard Auris gabble something to the humbugs again, high and shrill, looked back as he reached the bushes, and saw her already outside, running towards the shrubbery on his right.

The humbugs were small, brown, bobtailed animals, built with spider leanness and very quick.

Villemin, having been humbugged once, would hold his course this time and it would be Bucephalas that would have to sheer off to avoid a collision.

Colonel Raden agreed that the decencies had somehow to be preserved, even at the cost of a certain amount of humbug.