A dog of mixed breed; sometimes used as a derogatory term for a person.
Shortened from 'muttonhead', meaning a stupid person, first recorded in American English in the 1890s. The application to mixed-breed dogs developed by the early 1900s, possibly influenced by the idea of 'mixed up' breeding, though the exact semantic connection remains unclear.
The transformation of 'mutt' from an insult meaning 'fool' to an often affectionate term for mixed-breed dogs shows how language can rehabilitate words. Interestingly, many people now prefer 'mutt' over 'mixed breed' because it sounds more personal and endearing, completely reversing the word's original negative connotations.
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