Christmas Eve Antedating : "Humbug"

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

On Christmas Eve, 2009, Fred Shapiro offered us:

> humbug (OED 1751)
>
> 1750 _The Adventures of Mr. Loveill_ 197 (Eighteenth Century
> Collections Online)  That species of wit some time since
> laugh'd out of the world by Mr. Addison, under the name of
> _Bite_, and now reviv'd among the polite world, under that of
> _Humbug_.


For what it's worth, here's a sighting of "humbug" from June, 1749.  (See
far below.)

By the way, the OED2 offers a short piece that appeared in *The Student*
(II, p. 41) as containing earliest examples of "humbug" as a verb and as a
noun.  (It's also featured in the Dictionary's section on the word's
origin.)  I have the impression that this important "humbug" piece appeared
not in the January, 1751 issue (as suggested by the OED2), but instead in
the November, 1750 (II, 2; p. 41) issue of that publication.

-- Bonnie

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They will never have enough guts in their brains to find out, that there are
others, whom I have the wit not to name, who may dispute these points with
me; and thus I shall *humbug* them clean, by giving them my own praise,
while they suppose some other impudent fellow is having a fling at me.  [p.
223]

[Here, "humbug" is italicized. -- BTB]

From, Whoever You Please [author], OBSERVATIONS on the Art of PUFFING; or
the Love of Authors to themselves, and the good Opinion they usually
entertain of their own performances; with some Remarks on the Selfapplause
of another Set of Publick People, The Players, and particularly of the
modern Prince of that motley Community, *British Magazine* (London),
(1749:June) p. 219.  [Via ProQuest's British Periodicals database; also
appearing in ProQuest's Periodicals Archive Online database.]

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