Ebenezer Scrooge - Scrooge and The English Language

Scrooge and The English Language

The name "Scrooge" is used even outside of the UK and the US as a word for a person who is always complaining. Interestingly, it is almost always used in that context, and not as a person who changes from bad to good, despite the fact that his unpleasant side is only shown in its entirety within the first chapter, or "stave".

The character is most often noted for exclaiming "Bah! Humbug!" in spite of uttering this phrase only twice in the entire book. The word "Humbug" he uses on its own seven times, although on the seventh we are told that he "stopped at the first syllable" after realising Marley's ghost is real. The word is never used again after that in the book.

The word "Ebenezer" comes from Hebrew and is actually two words pronounced together: Even Haezer. It is usually transliterated as a proper name by dropping the definite article (Ha) from the Hebrew word for "help" (Ezer) and putting it together with the Hebrew word for "stone" (Even) to create: "Ebenezer." The etymological roots of the word, thus defined, should demonstrate that an "Ebenezer" is, literally, a "Stone of Help." The Biblical Scripture reads as follows:

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel; the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.” (1 Samuel 7:12-14 NRSV)

A species of snail is named Ba humbugi after Scrooge's catchphrase.

Scrooge appears in Louis Bayard's 2003 novel Mr. Timothy, which is told from Tim Cratchit's perspective.