Mutt

[victor steinbok]

Is there ANY evidence that "muttonhead" was ever applied in such
fashion, particularly in the second half of the nineteenth century?
We've all said before that dictionaries all plagiarize each other in
some fashion. If this "theory" can be traced to a single early source,
the whole thing collapses like a house of cards. Has there been any
new evidence found since OED1? If not, then we don't really have a
theory.

VS-)

On Sun, Aug 12, 2012 at 8:53 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> No new theory, still don't buy it.
>
> If "mutt" was first applied to "muttonheads," there would be some
> plausibility, but the record is unclear.
>
> It is hard to believe that so many people would then begin to refer to
> dogs, particularly mongrels, as "muttonheads."

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