# Mullet mysteries... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705 "2005-10-18T03:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/1 "2005-10-18T03:38:08Z")
When I see [this](http://indian-river.fl.us/fishing/fish/mullstri.html), and [this](http://www.mullet.com/mullet-galore.asp?c_id=1&p_id=17) I think, “One of these things is not like the other thing. At all. Nope.” So how did this perfectly lovely little fish come to be associated with that hideous growth on Billy Ray Cyrus’ head? I mean, a DA does sort of look like a duck’s ass. A flat top? It’s flat! But the mullet? It resembles a fish not so much as some hirsuite, brain-sucking alien lifeform. Why do I care? I honestly don’t know. I saw a prime specimine of mullet tonight in the supermarket parking lot, and such an enounter always inspires a number of questions starting with “Why??” So, really, how did the mullet come to be a “mullet” as opposed to, say, the “head-humping raccoon”, or the “line dancer’s helmet”? ---
**Author:** ![Nilor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a4c791/32.png) [@Nilor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nilor)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/2 "2005-10-18T05:02:53Z")
It’s the feel after it goes unwashed for a week ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/3 "2005-10-18T05:43:26Z")
The origen of the word is quite possibly due to the fact that Lord Verici the Ugly of the Itallian dutchy Waratucoo was the first man to ever wear his hair in such a manner in 1907. Waratucoo was known for it’s fish, though not particularly the mullet. However it is rumored that he grew jealous of the fact that mullets (the fish) would not reside in his domain, and as such he hired a wizard to summon them to him. It worked, and because of this Lord Verici also earned the nickname “The Mullet Man” (as a sidenote, those who gave him the nickname were executed) and some folk may have confused his want for the fish with his peculiar hair style. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/4 "2005-10-18T06:53:10Z")
Well, according to the _Oxford English Dictionary_: > [@](#): > > [\*\*Origin uncertain. Perh. an extended use of MULLET-HEAD n. 2; but _Grand Royal_ (1995) No. 2 proposes a number of other, largely humorous origins, including a relationship with MULLET _n_.[sup]1[/sup] and with the obsolete MULLET _v_. > Apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by U.S. hip-hop group the Beastie Boys (see quot. 1994), who also publish Grand Royal.] The quotations given date back to 1994: > [@](#): > > **1994** _Mullet Head_ (song) in ‘Beastie Boys’ _Tour Shot!_ (CD notes), You wanna know what’s a mullet? well I got a little story to tell About a hair style, that’s way of life Have you ever seen a Mullet wife? **1995** _Grand Royal_ No. 2. 46 The Mullet does not discriminate, though it is rare to see one worn by a senior citizen of any stripe. **1997** _Independent on Sunday_ 2 Feb. (Real Life section) 2/1 Connoisseurs of the absurd in gentlemen’s hairdressing have been enjoying a laugh at…those unfortunates who continue to commit that most heinous fashion don’tthe Mullet. **1998** _Sunday Mirror_ 12 Apr. (Personal suppl.) 3/2 The Mullet… If you have one, then a word in your ear: Scissors. **2000** _Sunday Herald_ (Glasgow) 16 Apr. (Seven Days section) 1/4 A malodorous guy with a flowing mullet. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/5 "2005-10-18T13:02:19Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Well, according to the _Oxford English Dictionary_:The quotations given date back to 1994: Hm dont know about all those accumulated mullet definitions, but an additional one is a starfish shape found in heraldry as well. Not that I can transfer the sheriif’s star shape into that funky hairstyle though. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/6 "2005-10-18T16:03:52Z")
I can’t give you a cite, but this topic was being discussed last week on the radio station I listen to. Someone apparently had, through research, come up with a legend that the “mullet” haircut gets its name from a time in the past (I can’t remember when) when short haircuts were the norm for men, but certain working-class men grew the backsides of their hair longer to keep their necks warm while out fishing in the cold weather for hours. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/7 "2005-10-18T16:09:36Z")
In the 80’s when my friends and I all had hair down to our asses, we called the mullet a “please, mom”. As in _“Please, mom, can’t I grow my hair long? I’ll only grow it the back, I promise”_. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/8 "2005-10-18T16:39:28Z")
If you follow the definition of **mullet-head** in the OED, you’ll find that it’s either 1. An imaginary fish having no brains, or 2. A stupid person. Seems apt to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/9 "2005-10-18T18:21:39Z")
I thought [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullet_%28haircut%29) might help clarify things, but they’re really no help. They do provide a fun list of synonyms, though: > [@](#): > > The mullet goes by various nicknames, including Ape Drape, Absolom, Camaro Cut, Camaro Crash Helmet, Shlong (Short-Long), Sfelby (Short Front, Long Back), Mississippi Mudflap, Hockey Hair, Femullet (woman’s variety), ten-ninety, Tennessee Tophat and Kentucky Waterfall, Neck Warmer, Canadian Passport and Coupe Longueuil (Quebec French term meaning Longueuil-haircut). The popular phrase “Business in the front, party in the back” describes the look of the mullet; Mike D of the Beastie Boys is purported to have coined this word usage. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mullet-mysteries/326705/10 "2005-10-18T18:36:32Z")
Hmm. Didn’t know “mullethead” was synonymous with, er, “dumbass”…didn’t know the Beasties actually may have _coined_ the term, either. Interesting…vedy, vedy interesting…