Humbug/etymology

Famous quotes containing the words humbug and/or etymology:

“In regard to women, as in many other respects, there was a good deal of humbug about ... chivalry.”
—O. L., U.S. women’s magazine contributor. The Woman’s Magazine, pp. 265-6 (January 1888)

“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)