HUMBUG  , an imposture, sham,

fraud . The word seems to have been originally applied to a trick or hoax, and appears as a slang term about 1750 . According to the New English Dictionary, Ferdinando Killigrew's The Universal Jester, which contains the word in its sub-title " a choice collection of many conceits .. . bonmots and humbugs," was published in 1754, not, as is often stated, in 1735-1740 . The principal passage in reference to the introduction of the word occurs in The Student, 1750-1751, ii . 41, where it is called " a word very much in vogue with the people of taste and fashion." The origin appears to have been unknown at that date . Skeat connects it (Etym . Diet . 1898) with " hum," to murmur applause, hence flatter, trick, cajole, and " bug," bogey, spectre, the word thus meaning a false alarm . Many fanciful conjectures have been made, e.g. from Irish uim-bog, soft copper, worthless as opposed to sterling money; from " Hamburg," as the centre from which false coins came into England during the Napoleonic wars; and from the Italian uomo bugiardo, lying man .