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If you’re familiar with the story of Scrooge, the nasty old man who wouldn’t enter into the spirit of Christmas, you’ll probably remember his favourite saying — “Bah, humbug!”. If you, like me, have ever wondered what “Bah, humbug!” means, you’ll be pleased to know that I have discovered an answer. Unknown to most people, Scrooge was actually half Chinese, and half British. His Chinese half considered the number 8 to be lucky, and his British half had a fondness for a particular soothing candy of the time, called a ‘Humbug’. Whenever Scrooge would hear something he didn’t like, he would ‘eight’ in Chinese to ward off the bad luck followed by ‘humbug’ to calm his anger. Hence — “Bah, humbug!”