Mumbo jumbo (phrase)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mumbo jumbo, or mumbo-jumbo, is an English phrase or expression that denotes a

confusing or meaningless subject. It is often used as humorous expression of criticism
of middle-management and civil servicenon-speak, and of belief in practices based on
superstition, rituals intending to cause confusion or languages that the speaker does not
understand.

Origins and usage[edit]

The phrase probably originated from the Mandingo name Maamajomboo, a masked dancer
that took part in religious ceremonies. Mungo Park's travel journal, Travels in the Interior of
Africa (1795) describes 'Mumbo Jumbo' as a character, complete with "masquerade habit",
that Mandinka males would dress up in order to resolve domestic disputes.[1] In the 18th
century mumbo jumbo referred to a West African god.
According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary:
Mumbo Jumbo is a noun and is the name of a grotesque idol said to have been
worshipped by some tribes. In its figurative sense, Mumbo Jumbo is an object of
senseless veneration or a meaningless ritual.
According to the 1803 Supplement to Encyclopdia Britannica Third Edition:
"Mumbo Jumbo: A strange bugbear employed by the Pagan Mandingos for the purpose
of keeping their women in subjection. Polygamy being allowed among these people,
every man marries as many wives as he can conveniently maintain; and the
consequence is, that family quarrels sometimes rise to such a height, that the
husband's authority is not sufficient to restore peace among the ladies. On these
occasions, the interposition of Mumbo Jumbo is called in; and it is always decisive.
This strange minister of justice, who is either the husband himself, or some person
instructed by him, disguised in a sort of masquerade habit, made of the bark of trees,
and armed with the rod of public authority, announces his coming by loud and dismal
screams in the woods near the town. He begins his pantomime at the approach of
night; and as soon as it is dark, he enters the town, and proceeds to the Bentung or
market-place, at which all the inhabitants immediately assemble.....the ceremony
commences with songs and dances, which continue till midnight, about which time
Mumbo fixes on the offender. This unfortunate victim being thereupon immediately
seized, is stripped naked, tied to a post, and severely scourged with Mumbo's rod,
amidst the shouts and derision of the whole assembly; and it is remarkable, that the
rest of the women are the loudest in their exclamations on this occasion against their
unhappy sister. Daylight puts an end to this indecent and unmanly revel....That the
women are deluded seems evident; for Mr. Park assures us, that the dress of Mumbo
is suffered to hang from a tree at the entrance of each town; which would hardly be the
case if the women were not persuaded that it is the dress of some supernatural being".
(Note: This is a minor re-wording of Mungo Park from his Travels in the Interior of
Africa [1799], published by Folio Society, London (1984: 20-21).

The phrase appears in Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes published in 1873. 'A
cracked edifice was a species of Mumbo Jumbo'.
First published in 1899, The Story of Little Black Sambo has a titular protagonist
whose parents are named "Black Mumbo" and "Black Jumbo". [2]
In 1972, Ishmael Reed wrote a postmodern novel titled Mumbo Jumbo which
addresses a wide array of influences on African diaspora and culture including
historical realities like the Scramble for Africa and Atlantic slave trade as well as its
invented influences like the "Jes Grew" virus. The novel includes an etymology taken
from the first edition of the American Heritage Dictionary that derives the phrase
Mumbo Jumbo from theMandingo m-m-gyo-mb, meaning a "magician who makes
the troubled spirits of ancestors go away."

[3] [4]

While the novel quotes this dictionary

entry and includes a lengthy bibliography, the work is largely fictional and regularly
blurs the line between fact and fiction. The title can also be interpreted to refer to the
notion that postmodern works like Mumbo Jumbo are often dismissed as nonsensical.
Also, The Story of an African Farm, a novel by Olive Schreiner, refers to half of a
"Mumboo-jumbow idol [that] leaves us utterly in the dark as to what the rest was
like." [5] Its reference symbolizes the confusion and lack of descriptiveness that came
from such an idol.
In Vachel Lindsay's poem The Congo, Mumbo Jumbo is used as a metaphor for the
pagan religion followed by the Africans he encounters. The phrase is "Mumbo Jumbo
will hoodoo you".[6] It has been quoted towards the end of The Expendables 2.
In "Stranger In A Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein, the character Jubal speaks of
Mumbo Jumbo as the 'God of the Congo' towards the end of the novel in a discourse
on the meaning of religions.

See also[edit]

snob
o e [se pronuncia aproximadamente 'esnob'] adj./s. com. Se aplica a la persona que tiene un
a admiracin exagerada por todo lo que est de moda, sea por afectacin opara darse importancia.

snobbery
Also found in: Legal, Wikipedia.

snobbery

(snb-r)
n. pl. snobberies
Snobbish behavior or an instance of it.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright 2011 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
Company. All rights reserved.

snobbery
(snb ri)
n., pl. -beries.
1. snobbish character or conduct.
2. an instance of this.
Often, snobbism.
[182535]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright
2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Snobbery, Snobdom
snobs collectively, 1833.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights
reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun 1. snobbery - the trait of condescending to those of lower social
status
snobbishness, snobbism
arrogance, haughtiness, hauteur, highhandedness, lordliness - overbearing pride evidenced by a
superior manner toward inferiors
clannishness, cliquishness, exclusiveness - tendency to
associate with only a select group
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

snobbery
noun arrogance, airs, pride, pretension, condescension, snobbishness, snootiness (informal),
side (Brit. slang), uppishness (Brit. informal) social and educational snobbery
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002
HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

Spanish / Espaol
Select a language:

snobbery
[snbr] N snobismo m, esnobismo m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 William Collins Sons &
Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

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