d. 1842. Maginn, Vidocq Versified. To hear Old Cotton humming his
pray.
To hum and haw, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To hesitate, to raise
objections.
1469. Paston Letters, II., 347 (Ed. Gairdner). He wold have gotyn
it aweye by humys and by hays, but I wold not so be answeryd.
1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller (Grosart, Wks., v., 96). Hee made no
more humming or haulting, but in despite of her husbandes
kinsfolkes, gaue her her Nunc dimittis.
1610. Jonson, Alchemist, iii., 2. You may be anything, and leave
off to make Long-winded exercises; or suck up Your ha! and hum! in
a tune.
1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, i., 1. A sober-drawn exhortation of
six hours, whose better part was the hum-ha-hum.
1620. Massinger, Fatal Dowry, iv., 1. Do you stand Humming and
hahing now?
d. 1680. Butler, Remains (1759), ii., 103. He hums and hahs.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hum and Haw, to Hesitate in
Speech; also to delay, or difficultly to be brought to Consent.
1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Love at a Venture, iv., 2, Wks. (1872), i.,
304. That was the first excuse that came at my tongue’s end—and you
know there is no humming and hawing with my old master, sir.
1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 14, p. 165 (2nd Ed.). If any person
... shall presume to exceed six minutes in a story, to hum or haw,
use hyphens between his words, or digressions.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. vi. Lord Ascot hummed and hawed,
and told him to tell his father he had been a good boy.
To make things hum, verb. phr. (American).—To force the pace; to keep
moving.
1888. San Francisco Weekly Exam., 23 Feb. Ever since he has taken
the newspaper reins in San Francisco he has made things hum.
1890. Punch, 22 Feb. If I was flush of the ochre, I tell you I’d
make the thing hum.
1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 28 Aug., p. 2, c. 3. With their advent things
begin to hum.
1893. W. T. Stead, Review of Reviews, p. 152. In the opinion of
both foes and friends we make things hum.
To hum around, verb. phr. (American).—To call to account; to call over
the coals (q.v.).
Human, subs. (old: now American).—A human being. [Also Human Boar]. For
synonyms, see Cove.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 332. Mongst humans by Court
dunning.
1783–5. Cowper, Task, ii., line 105. And agonies of human and of
brute.
1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xxviii. They have little
hovels for their cattle ... and a house for the humans as grand as
Noah’s Ark.
1882. Daily Telegraph, 13 Dec., p. 2, c. 2. In the opening pages
Mr. Matthew Arnold mourns in verse over the death of ‘Poor
Matthias,’ who is not a human but a canary.
1888. Denver Republican. He was only a dog ... but was much more
useful to society than many humans.
Humber-keels. See Billy-Boy.
Humble Pie. To eat humble pie, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To submit; to
apologise; to knock under. For synonyms, see Cave In.
1862. Thackeray, Philip, xxvii. If this old chief had to eat humble
pie, his brave adversaries were anxious that he should gobble up
his portion as quickly as possible, and turned away their honest
old heads as he swallowed it.
1887. Manville Fenn, This Man’s Wife, ch. ii., 4. Our savings are
gone and we must eat humble pie for the future.
Hum-Box, subs. (common).—1. A pulpit.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1827. Lytton, Pelham, p. 302 [Ed. 1862]. Well, you parish bull
prig, are you for lushing Jacky, or pattering in the hum-box?
1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. III., ch. ix., p. 309. He was
nicknamed the ‘Amen bawler’ (parson) and recommended to take to the
hum-box (pulpit) as better suited to him than cadging.
English Synonyms:—Autem; cackle tub; clack loft; cowards’ castle;
gospel mill (also a church); wood.