more on _mutt_

David Barnhart dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM
Sun Aug 12 13:05:38 UTC 2012


Century D. -

Century D. sup. -

New Century D. +  [origin obscure]



OED -

OEDs (1933) +  (orig. U.S.) [Apparently abbreviated f. _mutton-head_"

                                   N.B. The first quote is for a stupid
human (1904).



OEDs (1986) +  (orig. U.S.) "Abbrev. _mutton-head_"

                                   N.B. The first quote is for a stupid
human (1901).



eOED (2003) + (orig. U.S.) "Shortened < _mutton-head_"

       N.B. The first quote is for a slow horse (1899). Stupid human and
mongrel senses are tied at 1900.



A question mark or similar indication of uncertainty seems in order.



Regards,

David



barnhart at highlandns.com

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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