fee-faw-fum

1. A nonsensical exclamation attributed to giants and ogres.

   Fee-Faw-Fum!—— I ſmell the Blood of an Engliſh-Man; Whether he be alive or dead, I'll grind his Bones to make my Bread.

   1734, Dick Merryman [pseudonym; unknown], “CHAP IV. […] the Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean […] ”, in Round about our Coal Fire: or, Chriſtmas Entertainments., 4th edition, London: J. Roberts, page 45

   Synonyms: fee-fi-fo-fum

plural fee-faw-fums

1. A nonsensical exclamation attributed to giants and ogres.

   The kindly fee-faw-fums of childhood, how many delicious shivers we owe them; the Things that stood behind doors, that trooped into the church when the congregation went out, that lurked in closet corners and under the bed […]

   1908, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 102, page 823

2. archaicbroadlyAny expression calculated to impose upon the timid and ignorant.

   J. H. Newman impudent fee-faw-fums

   1 more example

   One of the most successful fee-faw-fums worked off on the prospective patients of mine for the past twenty-five years has been: “If you go to Tilden, he will starve you to death.”

   1921, J. H. Tilden, Food: Its Influence As a Factor in Disease and Health, page 153