30 SEPTEMBER 1916, Page 14

HUMBUG.

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SrEersxos.1

Sin,—You may find the following quotation of interest, in spite of its probably false etymology. It is from Isaac Taylor's Words and Phrases, p. 446, Second Edition, 1865 :— " During the last century false political- rumours were often propa- gated from Hamburg, then the chief port of communication with Ger- many. ' A piece of Hamburg news ' seems to have become a proverbial expression for a canard, and it is easy to see how this phrase has been passed down into the modern slang term Humsuo."

Chiltley Place, Liphook, Hants.