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Where did the name of all time loser 'billy muggins'...
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...originate..
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.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.
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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