Mongrel

[Dr. Goodword]

• mongrel •

Pronunciation: mahng-grêl • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, adjective

Meaning: 1. Cur, mutt, dog of mixed or unknown breed. 2. (Derogatory) A person of mixed race or descent, a half-breed. 3. Anything of mixed constituents or varieties.



Notes: The default sense of today's word refers to dogs: "Eva Brick's mongrel got along well with all the pure bred dogs in the neighborhood." It may be used as an adjective referring to anything of mixed constituents: "The prairie schooners that carried our ancestors westward were pulled by mongrel teams of horses, mules and oxen."

In Play: The default sense of today's word refers to dogs: "Eva Brick's mongrel got along well with all the pure bred dogs in the neighborhood." It may be used as an adjective referring to anything of mixed constituents: "The prairie schooners that carried American pioneers westward were pulled by mongrel teams of horses, mules and oxen."

Word History: Today's Good Word in Old English was gemong "mingle", also the source of among and akin to mingle. It descended from Old Germanic mangjan "knead together", a nasalized form of PIE mag- "to press, knead", source also of Greek magis "kneading-trough, kneaded mass". We find evidence of it in German machen "to make", English make, Italian madia "kneading board", French maie "kneading trough", Russian mazat' "to smear" and maslo "oil, butter", Serbian mazati "to smear", and Polish masło "butter". (Now a bow to Anna Jung for spotting the depth of today's everyday Good Word and sharing it with us.)

[Philip Hudson]

Do we have a list for the 100 ugliest words? Mongrel would surely be a candidate.

[David Myer]

I like the word, Philip. In the old days, mixed ancestry was a thing of shame, but thankfully, not so today. Today, it is in many ways a source of pride. I like the word mulatto too. In fact, everyone is of 'mixed ancestry'. We all have eight great grandparents - unless cousins have married along the way somewhere. And 'queer' I see is now back as an acceptable term. All good. Let's all take less offence.

[Philip Hudson]

I welcome the comment, David. I was mainly referring to the lack of beauty of the word itself and not the definition. Since it applies only to dogs in my experience and since I am mega allergic to dogs, I don't much like its primary meaning.

As far as humans go, I would never call a human a mongrel or any other derogatory word. If mulatto means mixed blood, we are all included. I am blessed with relatives of various blood lines. When I say I have mestizo [Spanish and American Indian mix] relatives I say it with pride. I understand mulatto to mean African and European mix. I got them too, quite a few. Some are blood kin and others are in-laws. You should see our Easter Celebrations in South Texas - all sizes, genders and shades. I happen to be descended, in the main, from British islanders with a bit of German in the mix. I have my ancestry line to Constantine as do a vast number of people living today. You might have guessed that I am a genealogist.
All human beings are fellow travelers here in this fallen world. As Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, everyone."

[David Myer]

Amen, Philip. Absolutely.