mullahed

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:30 AM -0500 6/27/10, Dennis Baron wrote:
>During the ESPN broadcast of the England-Germany game, the British
>commentator said that England "got mullahed."  The OED has only a
>little on this -- mullered (the earlier term, cited, I think, in 1993)
>and mullahed (a little later), meaning very drunk.
>
>Googling shows there is apparently another meaning, overpowered,
>trounced, that is also in use, and is the one signaled by the
>commentator. Googling also shows that many people think mullahed may
>derive from mullah, though it would seem likely that the word is an r-
>less version of mullered, if that term did indeed come first.
>
>But I had never heard the expression before. Anyone out there know
>more about it?
>
>db

I certainly didn't--I thought the commentator was saying something
about a mullet, so I appreciate the (semi-)clarification.  The vowel
was definitely the one I use in "mullet" ([@] or [^]) and not the one
I use in "mullah" ([U]), which of course means nothing except to my
interpretive faculties or lack thereof.  I should have realized my
mistake--mullets are really much more of a hockey than a
soccer/"football" thing.

LH

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