Brewer's: Mum

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., i. 2.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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