"Mutt" in Indian religion or law; not in OED

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Mon Aug 13 17:02:42 UTC 2012


At 8/13/2012 01:00 AM, W Brewer wrote:
>Mutt 'n' Jeff
>
>WB: If I interpret the Wikipedia article correctly, Bud Fisher's idea for a
>daily comic strip (A. Mutt) was turned down in 1905, two years before
>syndicated debut. And Othello Jeff had mutton chop sideburns.
>
>JB wrote: <<<There appears to be a "mutt" in Indian law or religion
>(Hindu?) that can be found in English-language documents.>>>
>
>WB: Ah, if Bud Fisher had had a Hindi background, we might take seriously,
>WADR, The Presumptuous & Pretentious One 's suggestion.

I did not mean to presume or pretend any association of the
Hindu-derived "mutt" with the dog, racehorse, or foolish
one.  Rather, I was merely noting that it appeared a number of times
in reference to an Indian or Hindu something, a something which I was
not inclined to uncover the meaning of.  Superficially, it seemed to
be a religious building or personage or organization, perhaps all
three.  A la abbot, abbotcy/abbacy.  And I wondered whether it
belonged in the OED.

Joel

>Casually browsing,
>as I am wont to do on occasions of dissipated ennui, I stumbled upon Mutt,
>Muth, muTh, (Sanskrit) Matam (view, thought, religion, philosophy, or
>anything at all actually). I think it is something like [m + schwa +
>retroflexed-aspirated-tea], according to a jpg photo of a devanagari
>inscription. They say Anglophones pronounce it [mutt]. On the other hand,
>Urban Dic (no disrespect) has Hindi muth (sperm, cum), muth maarna
>(masturbate), which is handy to know.

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