mongrel
an animal of mixed breeds
TRANSLATION
mongrel = der Mischling, die Promenadenmischung, der Bastard, die Kreuzung (zool.) --- GOOGLE INDEX mongrel: approximately 4,000,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Who are the English?
On the most basic level they are the people that inhabit that part of the British Isles called England.
This definition recognizes that they are a MONGREL race with mixtures of Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon (originally north German), Danish, Norwegian, Norman French--and more recently Jewish, Asian and Afro-Caribbean races, among many others.
(For a Change, the magazine of Initiatives of Change International)
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A dog missed her owner so much that she set out on an incredible 19-mile journey across Kent to find him.
Sophie, a five-year-old MONGREL, was left in the care of a friend when her owner, teacher Colin Mills, went on holiday to Germany.
(The London Evening Standard)
On the most basic level they are the people that inhabit that part of the British Isles called England.
This definition recognizes that they are a MONGREL race with mixtures of Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon (originally north German), Danish, Norwegian, Norman French--and more recently Jewish, Asian and Afro-Caribbean races, among many others.
(For a Change, the magazine of Initiatives of Change International)
---
A dog missed her owner so much that she set out on an incredible 19-mile journey across Kent to find him.
Sophie, a five-year-old MONGREL, was left in the care of a friend when her owner, teacher Colin Mills, went on holiday to Germany.
(The London Evening Standard)
Did you
know?
mongrel
noun
1. An animal or a plant resulting from various interbreedings, especially a dog of mixed or undetermined breed.
2. A cross between different breeds, groups, or varieties, especially a mixture that is or appears to be incongruous (unpassend).
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)
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WORD ORIGIN
Mongrel entered the language around 1460 and derives from mong and mange, meaning mixture, and from the Old English gemang/gemong, which dates to around 700.
Scientists apply the word mongrel to describe animals and plants that have been crossbred. Here's an example of how Charles Darwin used the word in his groundbreaking work The Origin of Species:
"Moreover, when two birds belonging to two distinct breeds are crossed, neither of which is blue or has any of the above-specified marks, the mongrel offspring (children) are very apt suddenly to acquire these characteristics…"
Mongrel is also used in a negative way to mean something that is not pure or genuine, or something that is inferior or of uncertain origin.
Mixed-breed dogs are typically referred to as mongrels. However, the word can be applied to many things such as architecture (a mixture of Gothic and Baroque as an example) or even music (a mongrel sound that combines jazz and rock for instance).
!!! Be careful about using mongrel to describe people or cultures, the word can sometimes assume a racist tone depending on the context.
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SYNONYMS
*Heinz 57, bastard, cross, crossbreed, cur, half blood, half-breed, hybrid, mixed breed, mixture, mule, mutt
*H.J. Heinz is one the world's oldest and largest international food companies. Sales of its famous ketchup alone yield around €2.5 billion in sales. In it's early days, the company adopted the slogan “57 Varieties” to advertise the large variety of bottled and canned foods it produced. This catch phrase became part of the company's culture. The number 57 can still be found on some of its product labels.
Because of the reference to variety, Heinz 57 eventually became slang for a mongrel dog by suggesting that its bloodline consists of a large variety of breeds.
As the story is commonly told, 57 was an arbitrary number chosen by the company's president. He came up with the idea when he saw a sign on a train advertising 21 styles of shoes.
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
“Don't tell anyone, but our best selling ice-cream flavour is a mongrel. It's made from vanilla, chocolate, and peppermint with a little curry."
noun
1. An animal or a plant resulting from various interbreedings, especially a dog of mixed or undetermined breed.
2. A cross between different breeds, groups, or varieties, especially a mixture that is or appears to be incongruous (unpassend).
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Mongrel entered the language around 1460 and derives from mong and mange, meaning mixture, and from the Old English gemang/gemong, which dates to around 700.
Scientists apply the word mongrel to describe animals and plants that have been crossbred. Here's an example of how Charles Darwin used the word in his groundbreaking work The Origin of Species:
"Moreover, when two birds belonging to two distinct breeds are crossed, neither of which is blue or has any of the above-specified marks, the mongrel offspring (children) are very apt suddenly to acquire these characteristics…"
Mongrel is also used in a negative way to mean something that is not pure or genuine, or something that is inferior or of uncertain origin.
Mixed-breed dogs are typically referred to as mongrels. However, the word can be applied to many things such as architecture (a mixture of Gothic and Baroque as an example) or even music (a mongrel sound that combines jazz and rock for instance).
!!! Be careful about using mongrel to describe people or cultures, the word can sometimes assume a racist tone depending on the context.
---
SYNONYMS
*Heinz 57, bastard, cross, crossbreed, cur, half blood, half-breed, hybrid, mixed breed, mixture, mule, mutt
*H.J. Heinz is one the world's oldest and largest international food companies. Sales of its famous ketchup alone yield around €2.5 billion in sales. In it's early days, the company adopted the slogan “57 Varieties” to advertise the large variety of bottled and canned foods it produced. This catch phrase became part of the company's culture. The number 57 can still be found on some of its product labels.
Because of the reference to variety, Heinz 57 eventually became slang for a mongrel dog by suggesting that its bloodline consists of a large variety of breeds.
As the story is commonly told, 57 was an arbitrary number chosen by the company's president. He came up with the idea when he saw a sign on a train advertising 21 styles of shoes.
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
“Don't tell anyone, but our best selling ice-cream flavour is a mongrel. It's made from vanilla, chocolate, and peppermint with a little curry."
