Mutt

[Douglas G. Wilson]

(1)------

There is a book which is largely readable at Google Books, published in
1900: _Taking Chances_, by C. L. Cullen. This is a collection of short
stories, apparently published earlier in the New York _Sun_. Cullen
loved the word "mutt", and uses it more than 20 times in the book. I see
one of the stories in the _Omaha World Herald_ of 19 December 1898. At
least one of these instances of "mutt" is in HDAS.

Many of the instances are in reference to a fox terrier which apparently
played poker (I haven't read the stories carefully). The text refers to
the dog as "the mutt" or "my mutt" without obvious derogation.

Other instances refer to race horses, particularly to an exceptionally
sorry-looking race horse (called a "mutt of a camel" in one case).

Another instance: a sucker being cheated by an Indian card-sharp: <<The
youth from Chicago was the merest mutt in the hands of the Indian ....>>
This one could be adduced in support of "mutt" = "muttonhead", but I
suspect it's more like the 1898 example I presented in 2004, with "mutt"
= "unfortunate child" or so.

Other examples, at a glance referring to dog and horse, are found in
other Cullen stories around 1900.

I don't know how influential Cullen was in his day, but the timing is
right for him to have been a popularizer of "mutt".

(2)------

Here is an early explanation of the word "mut", less than fully
enlightening (as one might expect): from GenealogyBank:

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_Tampa [FL] Tribune_, 12 May 1900: p. 4:

<<Mr. Stewart Brice, a son of ex-United States Senator Calvin S. Brice,
is a stickler for elegance in the use of the English language. In
addressing the New York municipal council yesterday, on a resolution to
receive the representatives of the Boer government, he referred to the
"soldiers of President Kruger, a 'lot of muts' down in South Africa.
[sic] The endearding [sic] term "muts" is decidedly new in some sections
of the country, and perhaps, it would have been well for Mr. Brice to
explain. On the Bowery a "mut" is supposed to be a "slob" and a "slob"
of course is a "bloke." Anyway, the impression to be gained from Mr.
Brice's remarks is that the Boers are a mighty worthless lot.>>

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-- Doug Wilson

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