Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

Turns out that it means "rather dark in colour, unimpressive", and the two "u"s are pronounced like the "u" in bus, so the sound is more or less "sabfask."

Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.