We use the expression Mumbo Jumbo to describe language that seems nonsense and to have no discernible meaning. One of the early colonial travellers to Africa, Francis Moore, wrote a book of his adventures called Inland Parts of Africa, which was published in 1738. He includes the passage, - dreadful bugbear to the women is called Mumbo Jumbo, which keeps the women in awe. Apparently, Mumbo Jumbo was a legendary spirit in villages across the continent who was used by male tribal leaders to keep the women in line. When a husband wanted to scare one of his wives, he'd dress up as Mumbo Jumbo and visit her in the dead of night and scare her rigid by shrieking and hollering and then tie her to a tree and give her a thrashing by Mumbo Jumbo. The phrase travelled to England and became associated with meaningless rantings.