different between fool vs humbug
fool
English
Etymology
From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of follis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fu?l/
- Rhymes: -u?l
Noun
fool (plural fools)
- (derogatory) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
- You were a fool to cross that busy road without looking.
- The village fool threw his own shoes down the well.
- 1743, Benjamin Franklin
- Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.
- 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge Chapter 13
- ‘If I coloured at all, Mr Edward,’ said Joe, ‘which I didn’t know I did, it was to think I should have been such a fool as ever to have any hope of her. She’s as far out of my reach as—as Heaven is.’
- 1895, Rudyard Kipling, If—
- If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
?Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools
- If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
- 2001, Starsailor, Poor Misguided Fool
- You're just a poor misguided fool
Who thinks they know what I should do
A line for me and a line for you
I lose my right to a point of view.
- You're just a poor misguided fool
- 2008, Adele, Crazy for You
- And every time I'm meant to be acting sensible
You drift into my head
And turn me into a crumbling fool.
- And every time I'm meant to be acting sensible
- (historical) A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
- 1896, Frederick Peterson IN Popular Science Monthly Volume 50 December 1896 , Idiots Savants
- This court fool could say bright things on occasion, but his main use to the ladies and lords of the palace was to serve as victim to practical jokes, cruel, coarse, and vulgar enough to be appreciated perhaps in the Bowery.
- 1896, Frederick Peterson IN Popular Science Monthly Volume 50 December 1896 , Idiots Savants
- (informal) Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes
- Can they think me […] their fool or jester?
- 1975, Foghat, "Fool for the City" (song), Fool for the City (album):
- I'm a fool for the city.
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes
- (slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular) Buddy, dude, man.
- 2010, G.C. Deuce, From the Gutter to the Grave: An American Hood Novel, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN), page 291:
- Upon opening the door, Trech was suddenly drawn aback by the shocking presence of the armed goon standing directly in front of him. “Yo, what up fool? […] ”
- 2012, Peron Long, Livin' Ain't Easy, Urban Books (?ISBN)
- “What up, fool?” he finally responded. “Not too much; fell asleep watching your boys get their asses kicked,” I told him, referring to the Carolina Cougars, the last team he played for before he got sick.
- 2014, Hitta Lo, Bracing Season I, Kaleidoscopic Publishing (?ISBN)
- Fame leaves out the house and walks to the BP gas station on Alabama Avenue. On the way there he sees his man Mark posted up at the rec center and walks over to holla at him. “What’s up fool?” Mark says while dapping Fame up.
- 2018, Keith L. Bell, Drought Season Over: The Sequel, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN)
- “What up fool?” Lil Slim said noticing the seriousness in Lil Kilo’s voice. “You ain’t switched up on us have you.” Lil Fresh looked at Lil Kilo like where that come from. “Nigga I’ll neva switch up.” Lil Slim said feeling a little offended.
- 2020, J. Lewis Johnson, A Dark Night in the Fieldhouse:
- [page 10:] "I knew you'd be scared," Reggie laughed. "What are you doin', foo? You must be crazy. You don't scare me." "Then why did you almost fall out of that chair? I scare everyone."
- [page 38:] "This is coo," said Fred. "It's almost like being there." "We are there, foo!" said Reggie as the boys slapped palms.
- 2010, G.C. Deuce, From the Gutter to the Grave: An American Hood Novel, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN), page 291:
- (cooking) A type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.
- an apricot fool; a gooseberry fool
- (often capitalized, Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.
Synonyms
- (person with poor judgment): See also Thesaurus:fool
- (person who entertained a sovereign): jester, joker
- (person who talks a lot of nonsense): gobshite
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
fool (third-person singular simple present fools, present participle fooling, simple past and past participle fooled)
- To trick; to deceive
- 1918, Florence White Williams, The Little Red Hen
- She bit it gently and found that it resembled a worm in no way whatsoever as to taste although because it was long and slender, a Little Red Hen might easily be fooled by its appearance.
- 1918, Florence White Williams, The Little Red Hen
- To act in an idiotic manner; to act foolishly
- 1681/1682, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar
- Is this a time for fooling?
- 1972, Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (page 56)
- She's always complaining that she got stuck with the worst possible committee. And that me and Jimmy fool more than we work.
- 1681/1682, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:deceive
Derived terms
Translations
Adjective
fool (comparative fooler or more fool, superlative foolest or most fool)
- (informal) Foolish.
- 2011, Gayle Kaye, Sheriff Takes a Bride
- That was a fool thing to do. You could have gotten yourself shot
- 1909, Gene Stratton-Porter, A Girl of the Limberlost
- Of all the fool, fruitless jobs, making anything of a creature that begins by deceiving her, is the foolest a sane woman ever undertook.
- 2011, Gayle Kaye, Sheriff Takes a Bride
Derived terms
References
Anagrams
- Olof, floo, loof
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old French fol (French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis.
Noun
fool
- Alternative form of fole (“fool”)
Adjective
fool
- Alternative form of fole (“foolish”)
Etymology 2
From Old English fola.
Noun
fool
- Alternative form of fole (“foal”)
Rohingya
Etymology
From Sanskrit ???? (p?gala)
Noun
fool
- mad man
fool From the web:
- what fools these mortals be
- what fools these mortals be quote
- what fools these mortals be writer
- what fool means
- what fools believe lyrics
- what fools these mortals be seneca
humbug
English
Etymology
Origin unknown; the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) states that “the facts as to its origin appear to have been lost, even before the word became common enough to excite attention”. It has been suggested that the word possibly derives from hummer (“(slang) An obvious lie”), or from hum (“(dialectal and slang) to cajole; delude; impose on”) + bug (“a goblin, a spectre”). In his Slang Dictionary (1872), English bibliophile and publisher John Camden Hotten (1832–1873) suggested a link to the name of the German city of Hamburg, “from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century”.
Hotten also said he had traced the earliest occurrence of the word to the title page of Ferdinando Killigrew’s book The Universal Jester (see quotations), which he dated to about 1735–1740. This dating has therefore been adopted by other dictionaries. However, the OED dates the word to about 1750, as the earliest edition of Killigrew’s work has been dated to 1754.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, Canada) IPA(key): /?h?mb??/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?h?m?b??/
- Hyphenation: hum?bug
Noun
humbug (countable and uncountable, plural humbugs)
- (countable, slang) A hoax, jest, or prank.
- (countable, slang) A fraud or sham; (uncountable) hypocrisy.
- (countable, slang) A cheat, fraudster, or hypocrite.
- (uncountable, slang) Nonsense.
- (countable, Britain) A type of hard sweet (candy), usually peppermint flavoured with a striped pattern.
- (US, countable, slang) Anything complicated, offensive, troublesome, unpleasant or worrying; a misunderstanding, especially if trivial.
- (US, countable, African American Vernacular, slang) A fight.
- (countable, US, African American Vernacular, slang, dated) A gang.
- (countable, US, crime, slang) A false arrest on trumped-up charges.
- (countable, slang, perhaps by extension) The piglet of the wild boar.
Descendants
- ? Finnish: humpuuki
- ? German: Humbug
- ? Hungarian: humbug (perhaps in part through German)
- ? Polish: humbug (perhaps in part through German)
Translations
Interjection
humbug
- (slang) Balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!
Verb
humbug (third-person singular simple present humbugs, present participle humbugging, simple past and past participle humbugged)
- (slang) To play a trick on someone, to cheat, to swindle, to deceive.
- 1810, Henry Brooke, “Epilogue on Humbugging”, in Samuel Johnson and Alexander Chalmers, The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper; including the Series Edited, with Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Dr. Samuel Johnson: And the Most Approved Translations. The Additional Lives by Alexander Chalmers, F.S.A. In Twenty-one Volumes, volume XVII (Glover, Whitehead, Jago, Brooke, Scott, Mickle, Jenyns), London: Printed for J[ames] Johnson; [et al.], OCLC 460902446, page 428:
- Of all trades and arts in repute or possession, / Humbugging is held the most ancient profession. / Twixt nations, and parties, and state politicians, / Prim shopkeepers, jobbers, smooth lawyers, physicians, / Of worth and of wisdom the trial and test / Is—mark ye, my friends!—who shall humbug the best.
- 1873 May 1, John F. French, “Farming—Present and Prospective”, in James O. Adams, New Hampshire Agriculture. Third Annual Report of the Board of Agriculture to His Excellency the Governor, Nashua, N.H.: Orren C. Moore, state printer, OCLC 659327991, pages 204–205:
- Then again farmers are shamefully, lamentably, sometimes almost ruinously humbugged. All classes it is true are humbugged to a certain extent, but farmers in my view suffer themselves to be fooled and swindled in this respect to a greater degree than any other class in the community. They are humbugged in seeds, humbugged in manures, humbugged in agricultural implements, humbugged by agents, humbugged by patent peddlers, humbugged by store-keepers, humbugged by politicians, humbugged by corporations, till finally, some of them are in danger of becoming little less than humbugs themselves.
- 1810, Henry Brooke, “Epilogue on Humbugging”, in Samuel Johnson and Alexander Chalmers, The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper; including the Series Edited, with Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Dr. Samuel Johnson: And the Most Approved Translations. The Additional Lives by Alexander Chalmers, F.S.A. In Twenty-one Volumes, volume XVII (Glover, Whitehead, Jago, Brooke, Scott, Mickle, Jenyns), London: Printed for J[ames] Johnson; [et al.], OCLC 460902446, page 428:
- (US, African American Vernacular, slang) To fight; to act tough.
- (slang, obsolete) To waste time talking.
Usage notes
The spellings humbuging and humbuged exist, but are not nearly so common as humbugging and humbugged.
Derived terms
- humbugger
- humbuggery
- humbugging (noun)
References
- humbug in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “humbug”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN
- humbug in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Further reading
- humbug on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Hungarian
Etymology
From English.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [?humbu?]
- Hyphenation: hum?bug
- Rhymes: -u?
Noun
humbug (plural humbugok)
- humbug
Declension
Interjection
humbug
- humbug!
humbug From the web:
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- what's humbug in french
- humbug what does it mean
- what does humbug mean in a christmas carol
- what is humbug candy
- what does humbug mean in parliament
- what does humbuggish mean
- what does humbug tea do
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