mumbo jumbo
noun phrase

- words or activities that are unnecessarily complicated or mysterious and seem meaningless

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

Circa 1738. Derived from the name of an idol supposedly worshipped by certain tribes in Africa.

Mandingo meant a magician who made the troubled spirits of ancestors go away and in the western Sudan referred to a high priest who had the power to protect his village from evil spirits.

British colonialists living in Africa believed such thoughts were silly, thus mumbo jumbo came to be associated with anything that doesn't make sense.

The context of big, empty talk was first recorded in 1896.

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SYNONYMS

jargon, gibberish, babble, drivel, gobbledygook, prattle, twaddle

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation, say something like:

“These technical instructions are MUMBO JUMBO to me, ask Jim in IT to help you out."