Muffin Slang

It has been a few months since these Two Birds formally launched the bakery and we've been fortunate.  We've been fortunate to receive consistent support from our friends and family.  We've been fortunate to have the distribution service offered by the Nebraska Food Co-operative.  But we've been most fortunate not to be bombarded by a bunch of comical quips about our muffins.  You know what I'm talking about. . ."I can't wait to taste your muffin" and "When do I get to eat your muffin."  Though, I wouldn't shun a, "I've waited my whole life for a muffin like this!"  

Honestly, very few folks have used muffin slang in our presence.  And while I may understand the connection between the over-expanded top of a muffin and the little ring of fat over ill-fitting jeans, I still do not understand the connection between a quick-bread baked good and the vagina.   

(See the photo below for a batch of muffins that will sport stupendous tops! - photo taken by Jeremy Jones)

Matilda & Muffins in New Orleans, LA

If you are uncomfortable with the topic of this blog post, please understand that it's the elephant in the room. . .I mean, we sell muffins. . .this must be discussed.

My research has turned up little on the etymological origin.  Though, I will admit that I didn't go looking in libraries.  I just perused the Internet.  The most tangible my seeking became was when I looked up the word "muffin" in my trusty, and heavy, 1949 edition of the "Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged."  Here is what I found:

• Muffin: 1. A light spongy cake or biscuit, usually small and round, eaten hot at some other meal than dinner. 2. A small earthen plate.   

• An aside, if you know your sexual slang, you will see an unexpected coincidence with entry number 2, making me wonder if the origin has little to do with the baked good and more to do with the dish off which the baked good is eaten.  Feel free to email me if you don't have a clue what I'm referring to, otherwise, please just enjoy your innocence.

The word "muffineer" is the word that follows the "muffin" entry, and I am going to champion the resurgence of the word "muffineer."  Meg and I are the New Muffineers!!  Actually, I should pass this past Meg first. . .

So, the dictionary lent more confusion than clues.  Could the slang term be in reference not to the American style muffin (an individually baked quick bread) but instead in reference to the English version of the muffin? The English muffin is a yeast-leavened biscuit that is typically served split, toasted, and buttered.  [Italics added to indicate that most web-searched entries use this language to describe the English muffin]  Maybe that oft-written string of descriptors is the link, though a vague one at best.  

I rarely give up easily, but we have muffins to bake.  So my search has ended.  Thanks for not asking about our "muffins."  Though a friend in Chicago asked if these Two Birds would be selling a "stud muffin."  That type of humour is welcome!  

Let's just keep referring to the vagina as. . . . .  .

 

 

Cat in Pretty Parlor's window - Seattle, WA

(photo above taken by Joshua Jones)

 

Can you find the etymological origin of the muffin slang?  If you are the first to find the origin, and you live in the Omaha area, you will receive a complimentary two-pack of your choice of muffin as a reward!

~ Trilety