Plug ugly

[dudley_rush]

When people say that someone is "Plug ugly", is this a reference to the character in The Bash Street Kids comic strip?

[jno]

The other way round, I think - Leo Baxendale (the Bash St cartoonist) named his kid Ugly Plug after the phrase. Plug here seems to be related to the verb 'to plug someone' - hit them in the face, so I guess it's someone who looks like he's been plugged.  In the 19th century, especially in America, a plug-ugly was a thug, no doubt one who wasn't very good looking.

[Clanad]

This, from Online Etymolgy Dictionary:

Plug-ugly: "ruffian" is first attested 1856, originally in Baltimore, from plug, Amer.Eng. slang for the stovepipe hats then popular among young men....

[Quizmonster]

The Oxford English Dictionary says the etymology of 'plug-ugly' is obscure, but it quotes a reference from Bartlett's American Dictionary, published in 1860, to the effect that it did - as Clanad says - refer to ruffians. However, Bartlett adds that it was earlier used by fire companies.

As I understand it, what we in Britain call a fire-hydrant is called a fire-plug in the USA. I suspect, therefore, that the reference may well be to the squat, shapeless, featureless characteristics of that device.

[ecoman]

I always thought that the saying was "Pug" ugly and was referring to the breed of dog.

[sasserina]

I thought it was " pug ugly " to...