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Where did the name of all time loser 'billy muggins'...

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janzman | 21:02 Tue 30th Oct 2012 | Phrases & Sayings
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Various foolish characters named Muggins have appeared over the years, mostly since the latter half of the eighteenth century. There doesn’t appear to be a single prototype on which the others are based.

The earliest cite of Muggins in the OED is:

1705 P. A. Motteux Amorous Miser ii. i. 19 They are a couple of close-fisted old Muggins.

There’s also a single extant citation of muglard, meaning “miser” from 1440. This is perhaps related to the Old French musgode, or “treasury.” Muggins may originally have appeared as “miser,” and widened into a term of general approbation, but that’s rather speculative.

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