- mumbo jumbo
- speech or writing that is nonsense or very complicated and cannot be understood.
There's so much legal mumbo jumbo in these documents that it's hard to make sense of them.
New idioms dictionary. 2014.
mumbo jumbo
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Mumbo Jumbo — may refer to: Mumbo jumbo (phrase), an English phrase for a meaningless ritual or nonsense Mumbo Jumbo (rollercoaster), a rollercoaster at Flamingo Land Resort, UK Mumbo Jumbo (Banjo Kazooie), a video game character Mumbo Jumbo, a song by Foghat… … Wikipedia
Mumbo Jumbo — Daten Standort Flamingo Land Theme Park Zoo (Malton, North Yorkshire, UK) T … Deutsch Wikipedia
Mumbo Jumbo — Mum bo Jum bo, n. [Perh. fr. the native name of an African god.] 1. Among the Mandingos of the western Sudan, a bugbear by means of which the women are terrified and disciplined by societies of the men, one of whom assumes a masquerade for the… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
mumbo-jumbo — ► NOUN informal ▪ language or ritual causing or intended to cause confusion or bewilderment. ORIGIN from Mumbo Jumbo, the supposed name of an African idol … English terms dictionary
mumbo jumbo — 1738, name of an idol supposedly worshipped by certain tribes in Africa; said to be a corruption of words in Mandingo (one reconstructed version is Mama Dyumbo), but no likely source has been found in the languages of the Niger region, to which… … Etymology dictionary
mumbo jumbo — [mum′bō jum′bō] n. [of Afr orig.: meaning, form, & dialect uncert.] 1. [M J ] among certain West African tribes, an idol or god believed to protect the people from evil and terrorize the women into subjection 2. a) any idol or fetish b) any… … English World dictionary
mumbo jumbo — [[t]mʌ̱mboʊ ʤʌ̱mboʊ[/t]] also mumbo jumbo N UNCOUNT (disapproval) If you describe ideas or words, especially religious or technical ones, as mumbo jumbo, you mean that they are nonsense. [INFORMAL] It s all full of psychoanalytic mumbo jumbo … English dictionary
mumbo jumbo — noun /mʌmbəʊˈdʒʌmbəʊ/ a) A deity or other supernatural being said to have been worshipped by certain West African peoples; an idol. Rev. Quacks healing services are little more than mumbo jumbo. b) Any object of superstition; religious words… … Wiktionary
mumbo-jumbo — mum|bo jum|bo [ˌmʌmbəu ˈdʒʌmbəu US bou ˈdʒʌmbou] n [U] informal [Date: 1700 1800; Origin: Mumbo Jumbo name of a supposed African god] technical language that is difficult to understand and seems to have no sense ▪ a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo … Dictionary of contemporary English
mumbo jumbo — noun Etymology: Mumbo Jumbo, a masked figure among Mandingo peoples of western Africa Date: 1738 1. an object of superstitious homage and fear 2. a. a complicated often ritualistic observance with elaborate trappings b. complicated activity or… … New Collegiate Dictionary
mumbo jumbo — Synonyms and related words: Mumbo Jumbo, abracadabra, absurdity, amorphousness, amphigory, amulet, anagoge, anagogics, anthroposophy, argot, babble, babblement, balderdash, bibble babble, blabber, blather, bogey, bogeyman, boggart, bogle, bombast … Moby Thesaurus
