In a message dated 22/02/2004 23:54:56 GMT Standard Time, 2zpool@charter.net writes: > I wonder if the American expression "Mums the word" means the same? > Not American but, as usual from Shakespeare, Henry VI, 1590. 'Seal up your lips and give no words but -mum'. Mumchance was also a game of chance with dice in which silence was indispensable. Regards Stan Mapstone