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mugshots
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Hi! Can someone tell me what the origin of the word "mugshot" is ? I know what they are, but I really don't understand the word. Has it got something to do with mugs (meaning these tall cups English and American people use to drink their tea or coffee?) (is it a slang word for someone with a srange or ugly face?). Help me, I'm French ...
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Mug is also rhyming slang. Toby Jug....mug.
it also means ..a foolish person.
A Toby Jug is a type of drinking vessel .
According to Chambers dictionary the word mug
is a cup with more or less vertical sides.The word coming possibly from the scandanvian mugga.
Also ..the face..the mouth....possibly from the grotesque face on a drinking mug. ie...the Toby Jug.
it also means ..a foolish person.
A Toby Jug is a type of drinking vessel .
According to Chambers dictionary the word mug
is a cup with more or less vertical sides.The word coming possibly from the scandanvian mugga.
Also ..the face..the mouth....possibly from the grotesque face on a drinking mug. ie...the Toby Jug.
You were right in thinking it was related to the drinking cups called "mugs." In the 18th century, many of those cups were decorated with grotesque faces, and eventually "mug" became synonymous with an unattractive face (i.e. "he's got a mug only a mother could love"). Eventually, mug just came to be slang for *any* face.