I live in the Appalachians–a place with so many shades of green that a friend who moved here from Colorado reported she’d never seen so many in her life, LOL.

But all those trees and plant life means something else, too. It means we have a lot of humidity in the air, and in summer, that means things get INTENSE. A favorite word around here is muggy.

Muggy has been used to describe conditions that are “damp, close, warm and humid” since around 1746…but why? Where in the world did this word come from?

Turns out it’s from a now-obsolete word, mug, which meant “fog or mist,” which comes from Middle English mugen, “to drizzle.” This Middle English word is from the Old Norse mugga of the same meaning…but them there? Etymologists aren’t entirely sure but suspect it’s related to the root word meug- which means “slippery or slimy.” Which is where mucus comes from.

What do you think? Are muggy and mucus related? (My husband frequently describes a muggy day as “feels like the inside of a mouth out there,” so…not so far off! LOL)

Word Nerds Merch!