Muffin top visible at waist of a woman walking

A muffin top (also muffin-top) is a slang term typically used to describe a person's body fat that extends horizontally over the edges of the waistline of tightly fitting pants or skirts, visible when there is a gap between the upper and lower garment. The term is a reference to the way a muffin appears when it has been baked in a muffin tin, so that the top of the muffin extends horizontally over and around the top of the tin or casing.

Origin

A muffin, with its top wider than its bottom

Muffin-top originated as Australian slang in mid-2003,[1] but has since become popular in other English-speaking countries. Its use has also been adopted in many non-English-speaking countries across western Europe, such as Germany and France. It may have been first popularized by the Australian television show Kath & Kim.[2] Australia's Macquarie Dictionary named "muffin-top" the word of the year in 2006;[3] the American Dialect Society named it one of the "most creative" new terms that same year.[4] The Oxford English Dictionary added the term to its revised online edition in March 2011.[5]

According to William Safire, writing in The New York Times Magazine, "Muffin-top fills a lexical void" and "describes the roll of excess flesh spilling out primarily in front but possibly all around."[6]

By 2007, the fashion for low-waist trousers and skirts had lost ground to higher-waisted garments, making muffin tops less ubiquitous.[2]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Muffin tops.
  1. ↑ "'Muffin-top:' A bellybutton flasher losing the battle of the bulge". Taipei Times. 2005-08-28.
  2. 1 2 Winterman, Denise (15 November 2007). "Is this the end of the muffin top?". BBC News. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Australian Dictionary Names 'Muffin Top' Word Of 2006". wayodd.com. 2007-01-25. Archived from the original on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
  4. ↑ "Truthiness Voted 2005 Word of the Year by American Dialect Society" (PDF). American Dialect Society. 2006-01-06.
  5. ↑ "Muffin top". Oxford English Dictionary. 2011-03-24.
  6. ↑ Safire, William (2005-08-28). "On Language: Muffin-Top". The New York Times Magazine.


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