mongrel: difference between revisions

From Middle English mongrel, equivalent to mong (“mixture”) +‎ -rel (pejorative diminutive); from Old English ġemang (“mingling”) (whence Modern English among), from Proto-Germanic *mang- (“mix”).^[1]

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌŋ.ɡɹəl/^[2][3]
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑŋ.ɡɹəl/, /ˈmʌŋ.ɡɹəl/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌŋɡɹəl, -ɑŋɡɹəl

mongrel (plural mongrels)

1. (often derogatory) Someone or something of mixed kind or uncertain origin, especially a dog.

   Synonyms: bitsa, bitser, (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) bitzer, cur, mutt, (dialectal) tyke, Heinz 57

   Hyponym: (of a cat) moggy

   That dog is a mongrel; who knows what breed it could be!

   • 2001 September 26, Anna Quindlen, “A Quilt of a Country”, in Newsweek‎^[1]:

     America is an improbable idea. A mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts, it is held together by a notion, the notion that all men are created equal, though everyone knows that most men consider themselves better than someone.

2. (slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A thuggish, obnoxious, or contemptible person; (often preceded by "poor") a pitiable person.

   Synonym: bastard

   • 2008, Jim Brigginshaw, Over My Dead Body, page 77:

     "Yanto bloody Evans!" Jack stuttered with rage. "Yanto bloody Evans! That... that... bloody mongrel! D'you know who he is? He's the one who knocked me back for a bit of extra timber before the roof fell in on me!"

   • 2019 October 27, Natalie Wolfe, “Australia's worst serial killer's affairs with sisters-in-laws”, in New Zealand Herald‎^[2]:

     But somebody's got to tell these mums and dads why their kids died, why this mongrel thinks he can wipe them out like a dirty rag.

3. (slang, Australia) An erect penis; an erection.

• among

mongrel (comparative more mongrel, superlative most mongrel)

1. Of mixed breed, nature, or origin; of or like a mongrel.

   English spelling is often regarded as confusing and unpredictable due to the mongrel nature of our tongue.