# Term meaning (possibly military) - per Mufti(?)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-meaning-possibly-military-per-mufti/356121>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 9, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-meaning-possibly-military-per-mufti/356121 "2006-05-09T20:29:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-meaning-possibly-military-per-mufti/356121/1 "2006-05-09T20:29:38Z")

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The most embarrassing thing is I can’t even remember what the term was - I _think_ it was

_per mufti_

but it might have been

_per tufti_ or _per pufti_

or some other mutation. I encountered it in a documentary about Ben Franklin - he was, ca. 1754, a colonel of a Pennsylvania militia, and when they marched out of Philadelphia, Ben went _per mufti_.

From context, I think it meant something to do with the way he dressed - either civilian clothes, or in a simple uniform as opposed to a rakish one with a sash.

What’s the term I heard? What does it mean?

Thx~

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-meaning-possibly-military-per-mufti/356121/2 "2006-05-09T20:31:27Z")

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[Mufti.](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-muf1.htm)

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-meaning-possibly-military-per-mufti/356121/3 "2006-05-09T20:33:50Z")

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Thank you. I wonder why the word “per” got tacked on front.

And although it was a narrator, the use of a word that didn’t exist in Franklin’s time bugs me.

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-meaning-possibly-military-per-mufti/356121/4 "2006-05-09T21:43:14Z")

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Mufti has two main meanings: an Islamic scholar entitled to interpret the _sharia_ and to issue a _fatwa_; and civilian dress worn by a military person or other person entitled to wear a uniform. According to Michael Quinion, the term derives from the casual wear of officers’ clubs, officers’ messes, etc., in the British Indian Army. The dressing gown and slippers acceptable for officers relaxing in the evening brought to mind the normal costume of the muftis. It was later extended to the wearing of any civilian clothing by someone in the military. In the documentary, Ben was therefore described as going in civilian clothes even though entitled to wear a uniform.