Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to smell disgusting; lit. and fig.

1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 2 May 10/2: Tell me of men and horses crushed pell mell – / There’s something, then, to make the paper sell; / Some broken hearts and groans there’s sure to be. / My paper ‘hums,’ so what is that to me?
1901		Marvel XV:388 Apr. 11: It does hum more than a little!
1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 13 Nov. 1/1: The stink proceeding from the heaps of humming manure aptly characterises the whole disgraceful business.
1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Sept. 10/4: A butcher caught with some humming hams in his shop, could plead that the meat wasn’t meant for ‘gents like the health inspector and the Government medical officer’.
1920		Marvel 9 Oct. 15: And don’t those eggs hum!
1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 68: A strong smell is credited with extra impact on the senses: ‘Don’t half hum’ or ‘Doesn’t half whistle’.
1992		D. Burke Street Talk 2 50: It’s hummin’ in this room!
1996		(con. 1970) G. Moxley Danti-Dan in McGuinness Dazzling Dark (1996) I i: That ham’ll be humming if it’s there any longer.
1998		R.G. Barrett Mud Crab Boogie (2013) [ebook] This tracksuit’s starting to hum just a little.
1999		Indep. Rev. 21 July 2: ‘Hum’ means to smell.