Chuff vs Muff - What's the difference?
chuff | muff |
To make noisy puffing sounds, as of a steam locomotive.
* 1912 , Katherine Mansfield, "The Woman At The Store", Selected Short Stories
* 1928 , D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover
* 1990 , John Updike, Rabbit at Rest
(British, informal) To break wind.
(scriptwriting, uncountable) Superfluous small talk that is free of conflict, offers no character development, description or insight, and does not advance the story or plot.
(lb) A piece of fur or cloth, usually with open ends, used for keeping the hands warm.
*
*:Selwyn, sitting up rumpled and cross-legged on the floor, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around at the sudden rustle of skirts to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure—a glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff .
(lb) Female pubic hair; the vulva.
(lb) A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet.
The feathers sticking out from both sides of the face under the beak of some birds.
A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object such as a pipe.
(colloquial) A fool, a stupid or poor-spirited person.
* Thackeray
A bird, the whitethroat.
(sport) To drop or mishandle (the ball, a catch etc.); to play badly.
To mishandle; to bungle.
* 1977 , (Alistair Horne), A Savage War of Peace , New York Review Books 2006, p. 69:
In slang|lang=en terms the difference between chuff and muff
is that chuff is (slang) to purposefully fail a standardized test in a conspicuous way while muff is (slang) a muffin.As nouns the difference between chuff and muff
is that chuff is a coarse or stupid fellow or chuff can be (scriptwriting|uncountable) superfluous small talk that is free of conflict, offers no character development, description or insight, and does not advance the story or plot or chuff can be the vagina while muff is (lb) a piece of fur or cloth, usually with open ends, used for keeping the hands warm or muff can be (colloquial) a fool, a stupid or poor-spirited person or muff can be (slang) a muffin.As verbs the difference between chuff and muff
is that chuff is (slang) to purposefully fail a standardized test in a conspicuous way or chuff can be to make noisy puffing sounds, as of a steam locomotive while muff is (sport) to drop or mishandle (the ball, a catch etc); to play badly.As an adjective chuff
is (british) surly or chuff can be (british) pleased.chuff
English
Etymology 1
15th century, dialectical, in noun sense “stupid fellow”. Adjective sense “surly, displeased” from 1832.Synonyms
* (surly) chuffy * (swollen) chuffyEtymology 2
Onomatopoeic. English onomatopoeias Compare chug and puff.Verb
(en verb)- The horses stumbled along, coughing and chuffing .
- ... and the small lit up train that chuffed past in the cutting made it seem like real night.
- The pigeons chuff and chortle off in indignant disappointment.
Noun
(-)Etymology 3
1520s, in sense “swollen with fat”; circa 1860, British dialect, in sense “pleased”. Possibly related to “coarse, stupid, fat-headed” sense.Derived terms
* (pleased) chuffedReferences
chuff]” at [http://septicscompanion.com The Septic’s Companion: A British Slang Dictionary
muff
English
(wikipedia muff)Etymology 1
Probably from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)Synonyms
* whiskers, beard, muff and beard (bird feathers)Etymology 2
Origin unknown; perhaps a specialised use of Etymology 1, above.Noun
(en noun)- a muff of a curate
Verb
(en verb)- Here was the superlative opportunity to make a generous and lasting settlement from a position of strength; but the pieds noirs , like the Israelis, and from not altogether dissimilar motives, were to muff it.