Duffed vs Muffed - What's the difference?
duffed | muffed |
(duff)
(dialectal) Dough.
A stiff flour pudding, often with dried fruit, boiled in a cloth bag, or steamed
* 1901 , , short story The Ghosts of Many Christmases'', published in ''Children of the Bush [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7065]:
(Scotland, US) Decaying vegetable matter on the forest floor.
* 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 366:
Coal dust.
(slang) The bits left in the bottom of the bag after the booty has been consumed, like crumbs.
Something spurious or fake; a counterfeit, a worthless thing.
An error.
(UK) Worthless; not working properly, defective.
* 1996 , , State of Desire ,
* 2003 , ,
* 2009 , , Paperboy ,
(slang, obsolete) To disguise something to make it look new.
(Australia) To alter the branding of stolen cattle; to steal cattle.
To beat up.
(US, golf) To hit the ground behind the ball.
(muff)
(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:
As verbs the difference between duffed and muffed
is that duffed is (duff) while muffed is (muff).duffed
English
Verb
(head)duff
English
Etymology 1
Representing a northern pronunciation of (dough).Noun
(en noun)- The storekeeper had sent them an unbroken case of canned plum pudding, and probably by this time he was wondering what had become of that blanky case of duff .
Etymology 2
Origin uncertain; probably imitative.Noun
(en noun)- Out under the trees, some rangers had found enough duff and dry wood to start a fire beneath a slanting ridge of slate.
Adjective
(er)- Why do I always get a shopping trolley with duff wheels?
page 155,
- From its surface, he insisted, plain food became ambrosia, water nectar, and the duffest dope would blow your mind.
page 315,
- One will win the coveted Hollywood Science Award, which, in Robert?s words “is given in recognition of the duffest science in movie-dom” so it will be worth tuning in to find out what movie stunt wins.
page 225,
- All the other parts were played by a gallery of Dickensian character actors, including Thorley Walters, Francis Matthews and, yes, Michael Ripper, who lent gravitas to the duffest dialogue lines.
Synonyms
* (defective) bum (US)Etymology 3
Origin uncertain; perhaps the same as Etymology 1, above.Etymology 4
Originally thieves' slang; probably a back-formation from (duffer).Verb
(en verb)- I heard Nick got duffed up behind the shopping centre at the weekend.
See also
* up the duffmuffed
English
Verb
(head)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.