People
“A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect,” roared the Humbug, waving his cane furiously.
— Norton Juster
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The Humbug thunders that caring too much about word choice shows an empty mind. He says it with a furious flourish of his cane. The joke is that his loud, pompous outburst is itself a bit of blustering nonsense about words.
Context reviewed