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Re: Mullered?

Posted by Masakim on January 03, 2003

In Reply to: Mullered? posted by withnail on January 03, 2003

: Any clues to the origin of the above slang term, used in the UK to describe a state of alcoholic inebriation..? I have only ever heard it spoken, so it may be spelt differently to the above.

: Obliged

Q. From Richard Bolingbroke: "Please can you tell me what _mullered_ means and how old it is. I have only heard it in the last few months. Some people use it in engineering to mean damaged, but it seems to mean drunk too".
A. It's a relatively recent British slang term, so far as I know, certainly only dating from the nineties. I've not come across it in the sense of "damaged", but only that of "intoxicated", either by drink or drugs. It has been said to be a variant form of the older word _mulled_, with the same meaning, which presumably derives from the sense of a drink that's has been made into a hot spicy concoction.
From "World Wide Words" (January 9, 1999)