bah humbug

Ebenezer Scrooge's favorite saying about Christmas and other jolly things (before he was visited by the Ghosts of Christmas). Used the saying as justification for making his poor employees, such as Bob Cratchit work on Christmas Day, even with his starving family and diseased Tiny Tim.

'Bah!' said Scrooge, 'Humbug!'

'Christmas a humbug, uncle!' said Scrooge's nephew. 'You don't mean that, I am sure?'

-- from A Christmas Carol

A nitpicky bit of holiday trivia: Ebenezer Scrooge never actually says "Bah humbug!" as a phrase. They were always two different words, Bah! being the interjection and humbug meaning, according to the trusty Webster 1913, "something contrived in order to deceive and mislead" -- referring, of course, to Christmas itself (and occasionally Marley's Ghost).