A strong beer made in Brunswick; so called from Christian Mummer, by whom it was first brewed.
Mum (a mask), hence mummer.
Mum’s the word. Keep what is told you a profound secret. (See Mumchance.)
“Seal up your lips, and give no words but—mum.”
Shakespeare: 2 Henry VI., 1.2.
· ·
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
· 
· 
· ·