# origin of the word "Studmuffin" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613 "2016-11-04T16:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/1 "2016-11-04T16:06:36Z")
Curious if the original usage is known. Cute word. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/2 "2016-11-04T16:16:04Z")
Presumably a variation on “beefcake” which supposedly spawned from some college campus in the '90s (according to [wordwizard.com](http://wordwizard.com)) but likely earlier. Popularized by [Judy Tenuta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Tenuta). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/3 "2016-11-04T22:07:43Z")
The awesome comic strip Eyebeam had a character nicknamed Studmuffins in the early 80’s: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/5746/30148903154_460c894e5c_b.jpg "Untitled | beowulff | Flickr") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/30148903154/in/dateposted-public/) ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/4 "2016-11-04T22:39:39Z")
I have to agree with beowulff with the anecdote that I got detention from Sister Margo for using studmuffin (as an interpreted swear word but really as a playground insult during some kickball trash talking) on the playground in the Spring of 1985. I just confirmed this with my mother- so there is my cite! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/5 "2016-11-04T22:50:13Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Presumably a variation on “beefcake” which supposedly spawned from some college campus in the '90s (according to [wordwizard.com](http://wordwizard.com)) but likely earlier. “Beefcake” surely being derived from “cheesecake,” used widely at least since the 1940s (and always about women). ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/6 "2016-11-04T23:15:47Z")
I got called that in the 1970s. That’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/7 "2016-11-04T23:46:50Z")
An attractive male or, etc. [https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=stud+&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4LENN\_enUS494US494&q=stud+muffin&gs\_l=hp..3.0l5.0.0.2.518241...........0.xH9PCOCrj6A](https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=stud+&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4LENN_enUS494US494&q=stud+muffin&gs_l=hp..3.0l5.0.0.2.518241...........0.xH9PCOCrj6A) ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/8 "2016-11-05T06:09:54Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The awesome comic strip Eyebeam had a character nicknamed Studmuffins in the early 80’s: > > [Untitled | beowulff | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/30148903154/in/dateposted-public/) Like **beowulff** , I first saw the term in _Eyebeam_. At the time I was attending the University of Texas at Austin, where Sam Hurt wrote the strip for the _Daily Texan_. “Studmuffins” quickly became a popular phrase around campus. Small correction: The _Eyebeam_ character was named Rodney Rutherford III (Rod). His girlfriend called him “Studmuffins”. [QUOTE=wikipedia] Eyebeam was a daily comic strip written and illustrated by Sam Hurt at the University of Texas at Austin. Unlike most college strips, its popularity led to a print life past Hurt’s graduation. The strip ran in the college’s Daily Texan from 1980–1990, though examples from 1978-1979 exist. In 1983, Austin’s daily paper, the American-Statesman, picked up the strip. Other newspapers around the U.S. followed suit, although Eyebeam’s family of subscribers was never greater than a few dozen. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-word-studmuffin/770613/9 "2016-11-05T09:27:41Z")
My (not very talented) garage program-rock band in high school wanted to be the Studmuffins for the school talent show, but this was nixed by the teachers. We had to go as Dain Bramage instead. This would have been in 1988.