A fellow EL major Putri and I were talking and she said "Why do we use the word mugging to mean studying when to get mugged is an entirely different thing?" and I was thinking "ya huhhhh, why ah?"
To the dictionaries!
According to http://www.merriam-webster.com
Main Entry: 1mug
Pronunciation: \ˈməg\
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1664
— mug·ful noun
Dictionary.com says,
mug
–noun
1.
a drinking cup, usually cylindrical in shape, having a handle, and often of a heavy substance, as earthenware.
2.
the quantity it holds.
3.
Slang.
a.
the face.
b.
the mouth.
c.
an exaggerated facial expression; grimace, as in acting.
d.
a thug, ruffian, or other criminal.
4.
British Slang. a gullible person; dupe; fool.
–verb (used with object)
5.
to assault or menace, esp. with the intention of robbery.
6.
Slang. to photograph (a person), esp. in compliance with an official or legal requirement.
–verb (used without object)
7.
Slang. to grimace; exaggerate a facial expression, as in acting.
Well, firstly I think we do not use the word "mug" to mean "rob" in our Singaporean context for most part and only see the word being used in that sense, and also in the "mug shot" sense in the American television programs we watch. Given that we use the word "rob" instead of "mug", besides the cup meaning, it leaves the word open for additional meanings. Since the meanings listed in the dictionary entries above were the earlier known meanings of the word "mug", I would tend to assume our Singaporean definition of the word "mug" would draw from these. I noticed that most of the meanings of "mug" both slang and 'official' were negative, which explains the negative connotations of "mug" in our Singaporean context. According to Urban Dictionary,
| 3. | Mugging | |
Other than the multiple existing meanings of this word, it can also be used to describe someone stuffing a great deal of information from the textbook into his head, meaning tons of mere studying for long periods of time. This word is very common in countries like Singapore. Related words are 'mugger' and 'mug', meaning 'someone who studies a ton/a very hardworking person' and 'studying' respectively. Stop mugging or i'll ignore you! Perhaps our definition of "mug" and "mugging" is a combination of all of the earlier definitions of the word. Since when we "mug", we are usually pulling an all-nighter and we would most likely have a mug of coffee on the table to keep us awake. Then after a long period of "mugging" we will start to grimace, and feel like we are trapped in a prison like a criminal, all because we were trying to rob our textbooks of all the information they contained. | ||
