Mumbo Jumbo

[surreyman]

Whait is the origin of the phrase "Mumbo Jumbo" meaning something incomprehensible.

[mynx]

Dictionary.com supposes it's from mandingo origin. \Mum"bo Jum"bo\, n. [Perh. fr. the native name of an African god.] 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 purpose; hence, loosely, any Negro idol, fetish, or bugaboo.

[Quizmonster]

The word first appeared in English in a book by F Moore on his travels in Africa in the mid-18th century. It was he who provided the "bugaboo to frighten women" concept. It is known that he explored only the Niger region rather than anywhere further east. Unfortunately, none of the languages of the relevant area support his theory. As a result, The Oxford English Dictionary says that the origin is unknown.

Still, I like Mynx's dictionary.com notion, despite the fact that it's just a guess.