Mullets and mulletheads

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>The "mullet" cut looks very similar to the pageboy worn by the little Dutch
>Boy, on the logo of that particular brand of paint.  Are mullet plentiful in
>the Netherlands?  Might "mullethead" be a nationalistically-based slur,
>directed towards eaters of fish who also wear their hair that way?  And is
>the pageboy-mullet-cut one and the same?  Yikes!

> > There is apparently a parallel mullet universe.

I am now well acquainted with the mullet -- a word previously unknown to me
in the 'haircut' sense -- after spending some time in the parallel universe
on the Web. (I've also become acquainted with some remarkable pictures --
some pornographic and disgusting, others just disgusting. Also with some
very unrestrained opinions regarding the character of the mullet-wearer.)

I think the mullet is distinct from the pageboy: in particular, the pageboy
is distinguished by long sides, similar in length to the back, with the
ears covered (hair experts, correct me!), while the mullet is characterized
by relatively short sides, with the ears typically uncovered.

If "mullethead" means "mullet-lover" (and I suppose it might sometimes, in
the title of a recent book particularly), I would propose the southern US
as origin; apparently there are mullet festivals, with mullet-throwing
contests, etc., according to sites on the Web. Of course an ethnic/national
slur is always a possibility too. In any use since 1994, and perhaps since
1980, however, I would be cautious about "mullethead" since it may simply
refer to "one with a mullet haircut".

My children don't recognize 'mullet' in any sense. The OED shows a bunch of
senses, including (1) fish, (2) star (heraldry), (3) puffin, (4) musket
part, (5) pincers (for hair-curling?!), etc. There is also an obsolete
variant 'mullet' = 'mulet' = 'mule'. Maybe it was the mule rather than the
fish which originally inspired the old slang term "mullethead" (see below).
(In French, 'mulet' = 'mullet' [fish], and also 'mulet' = 'mule'. [These do
not appear to be cognates, BTW!])

As I said in an earlier message, I tend to favor 'mullet' < 'mullet-tail'
likening the long back hair to a fish's tail. So far, I cannot substantiate
the theory by citing the use of 'mullet-tail' for a haircut.

On the Web, I find a humorous reference or two to mullet tails as a
southern US entrée. I find one single (dubious) 'mullet tail' reference in
the context of the hairdo, and I think 'mullet tail' here probably means
simply 'the tail of the mullet hairdo'.

Reviewing the (limited) information available to me on 'mullet' versus
'mullethead': I believe there are two distinct concepts here, and likely
two distinct etymologies.

The RHHDAS gives 'mullet' as = 'fool'/'mullethead', but the subsequent
citations do not support the equivalence of 'mullet' with 'mullethead'
IMHO. Of the four RHHDAS citations for 'mullet', three appear to support an
equivalence with 'sucker' (i.e., overly trusting person, easily victimized
person, patsy, dupe) rather than with something like 'idiot' (i.e., person
of limited mental capacity). ('Fool' of course covers both senses.) The
fourth citation in the RHHDAS gives 'mullet' as the opposite of 'BMOC' =
'big man on campus' = 'campus leader'; thus 'mullet' in this citation would
= 'campus follower' or perhaps 'unpopular/insignificant man on campus'. All
of the 'mullet' citations look to be equivalent to slang 'fish' = 'person
of low status'/'weak or stupid person'/'person easily victimized' (see,
e.g., Chapman) and close to 'sucker' (another fish name). I have one other
listing for 'mullet' in this sense: "Slang", by Paul Dickson, gives
'mullets' = "broker's derogatory term for customers" -- again supporting
the sense 'gullible person' as opposed to 'stupid person'.

'Mullethead' appears in the OED, and in Ayto's "Oxford Dictionary of
Slang", as well as in the RHHDAS. The Oxford books compare it with
'mullhead' = 'fool', although I don't find a distinct OED listing for this.
Presumably the 'mull' (in 'mullhead') = 'muddle' although there are at
least two other OED candidates (obsolete 'mull' for 'cow', also for
'mule'). I have the RHHDAS and OED citations and three from Project
Gutenberg (plus "Cool Hand Luke"!) [some citations duplicated]. These
mostly support equivalence with 'idiot' as opposed to 'dupe'
('unintelligent' versus 'gullible'). There are two very odd citations
saying something like "We call this fish a mullethead because it is
stupid." This would be unlikely if "mulletheaded" were understood to mean
"as stupid as a mullet". Presumably this is folk-etymology by someone who
has heard a fish called a mullet but who also knows another word
"mulletheaded" = "stupid".

I postulate that 'mullet' = 'fool' is not simply an abbreviated form of
'mullethead'. I presume 'muddlehead[ed]' > 'mullhead[ed]' >
'mullethead[ed]' [stop]. I presume 'mullet' = 'fool' appeared separately as
a more specific form of 'fish', perhaps under reinforcement from
'mullethead' -- just as 'sucker' appeared in the same sense as a specific
form of 'fish' (in this case with reinforcement from 'sucker' = 'unweaned
[i.e., ignorant] person').

In light of this apparent dichotomy, I find 'mullet haircut' <
'mulletheaded' even more unlikely.

Another thought: maybe the mullet was introduced by a hairdresser named Mullet?

-- Doug Wilson