A Christmas Carol (1843) has been one of the most influential novels every written. It introduced many memorable words, phrases and idioms into the English language . Many of these are used in Stave One Bah Humbug! interjection . An exclamation of irritation or disgust. Dead as doornail - obviously/conclusively dead. Ghost of Christmas Past : noun. A person or thing from a past you might choose to forget Gruel - a thin liquid food of oatmeal - used to refer to cheap/poor food. Scrooge: noun . Someone with cold/mean/miserly attitude. Also someone who transforms from bad to good. Tight fisted - ungenerous Famous quotations A Christmas Carol is also one of the most widely quoted texts in literature. Here are some widely used examples from the opening description of Scrooge: Marley was dead, to begin with … Old Marley was as dead as a doornail. Oh! but he was …tight -fisted The cold within him froze his old features. He carried his own low temperature alwa