mumbo jumbo

M

mumbo jumbo

Meaning

• Something that does not make sense.
• A speech which was meaningless.
• A religious ritual that is outdated and/or considered frivolous.

Example Sentences

1. I do not believe in this mumbo jumbo, human life should be valued far more than some ritual that one is not willing to forego.
2. The politician made a right fool of himself with all that mumbo jumbo on the stage. Do not think he is going to be voted for this time.
3. What is all this mumbo jumbo? How can educated people like you waste so much time with such rituals?
4. It is often people who do not understand the full meaning of religion that end up in such mumbo jumbo.
5. She is just a kid, most of what she says is mumbo jumbo.

Origin
In the year 1738, a writer called Francis Moore used this expression in the publication titled ‘Travels into the inland parts of Africa’. It was not used in the sense that it is used today back then. In 1858, ‘The Saturday Review’ published it to mean what it stands for in the current years. The origination of the phrase comes from a masked dancer in religious functions called “Maamajomboo”. The exact phrase was also the name of a West African God.