Origin of Mush for face

[Mortartube]

I believe that it may have originated in London but why Mush?

[helpmetoo]

its an endearing romany gypsy term, designed to grab your attention........oi!...mush!
how polite

[helpmetoo]

in london if your (female) mush is not so pretty they will say 'shes got a dodgy boat'

[Mortartube]

I know a sailor who was beaten up by a London woman when he asked "Would you like to come on my boat"?

I wonder how long it will be before this is deleted?

[Quizmonster]

Mush originally meant just the mouth and, as such, I imagine it was just a deliberate mispronunciation of that word perhaps following the idea of mug, also meaning face. Over time, it took on the meaning of the whole face.

[Mortartube]

Thank you Quizmonster. Once again you have come up trumps.

[DaSwede]

Hi Mortartube. I don't know the answer to your question but it sure got me thinking... Older generations in Sweden used the French word mouche (fly) for a "false" beauty mark resembling a facial mole - or resembling a fly that just landed on your face, I suppose. According to Swedish Wikipedia the French eighteenth century aristocracy would apply a mouche to the face to hide syphilitic "blemishes", and it caught on all over Europe - with or without syphilis... Originally they were patches for gluing on, but when they became � la mode they could also be painted on if you had nothing to hide. Again, according to Swedish Wikipedia, you might use the placement of the mouche to send a subtle message: for instance, applying a mouche close to the mouth (think Marilyn Monroe) meant that you wished to be kissed, close to the eye (think Sherilyn Fenn and Dita Von Teese) that you yourself were a flirt.

Any-hoo... the French themselves don't seem to use the word mouche for this kind of make-up? and I don't know if the British do or ever have? But the British word mush for face is pronounced very much like the French word mouche, is it not? As I was googling for "mush" I came across an example sentence which read "I hit him in the mush." Methinks if two aristocrats were fighting it out in an alley, they would surely take aim at their antagonist's mouche...

[~max~]

Excellent, DaSwede, that taught me a lot! Thanks! I'm french, and never knew about that.

[DaSwede]

thanks max!

[~max~]

You're welcome, that was very interesting. :O)

[Quizmonster]

Mouche - or just mouch - was used from the 17th century in English to mean a beauty-spot. Mouche in French, from Latin musca, means a fly and hence the idea of a black spot...after all, that's just what a fly looks like from a distance, as DaSwede says above.
Despite the similarity of sound, there does not appear to be any actual connection with the current English word mush for face. If there is, the scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary have missed it!

[DaSwede]

Idlers!

;-)