Glove & Mitten

Glove (pronounced gluhv)

(1) A shaped covering for the hand with individual sheaths for the fingers and thumb, made of leather, fabric etc.

(2) To cover with or as if with a glove; provide with gloves.

(3) In specialized use (as golf glove, boxing glove, driving glove etc), any of various protective or grip-enhancing hand covers worn in sports and related pursuits.

(4) In the rules of cricket, to touch a delivery with one's glove while the gloved hand is on the bat.  Under the rules of cricket, the batsman is deemed to have hit the ball with the bat.

Pre 900: From the Middle English glove & glofe, from the Old English glōf, glōfe & glōfa (glove (weak forms attested only in plural form glōfan (gloves))), from the Proto-Germanic galōfô (glove), a construct of ga- (the collective and associative prefix) + lōfô (flat of the hand, palm), from the primitive Indo-European lāp-, lēp-, & lep- (flat).  It was cognate with the Old Norse glōfi, the Scots gluve & gluive (glove) and the Icelandic glófi (glove).  It was related to the Middle English lofe &, lufe (palm of the hand).  The verb form “to cover or fit with a glove” emerged circa 1400, gloved & gloving followed later; Old English had adjective glofed.  The surname Glover is recorded in parish records from the mid-thirteenth century.  In German, Handschuh is the usual word for glove and translates literally as "hand-shoe"; the Old High German was hantscuoh and it exist in both Danish and Swedish as hantsche, all related to the Old English Handscio (the name of one of Beowulf's companions, eaten by Grendel) which was attested only as a proper name.  Glove is a noun and verb, gloved is a verb & adjective, gloving is a verb and gloveless & glovelike are adjectives; the noun plural is gloves.

Glove etiquette in the 1950s.  The high Cold War saw the last days during which "hats & gloves" really were a thing for upper middle class women in the West.  

Glove appear often in English sayings" .  "To throw down the glove" (often also as "throw down the gauntlet") is to offer a challenge (the act once a literal prelude to combat) and "to take up the glove" is to accept it.  "Fits like a glove" (attested from 1771) indicates something perfect; to be "hand in glove" is to be in association with (often pejorative); to treat with "kid gloves" means gently to handle (the "kid" a reference to the soft hide of a young goat); to "hang up the gloves" (in the sense of a pugilist) is to retire.  Again, drawn from boxing, to "take off the gloves" (when in a dispute or argument) is to continue ruthlessly without regard for the normal rules of conduct; boxing gloves apparently date from 1847.  The phrase "iron fist in a velvet glove" describes well-disguised strength and was used of cars with an appearance which hinted little at their potential, things like the BMW M5s and Mercedes-Benz 500Es of the late twentieth century the classic examples. 

Mitten (pronounced mit-n)

(1) A hand covering enclosing the four fingers together and the thumb separately; sometimes shortened to mitt.

(2) A slang term for any form of glove (rare).

1350–1400: From the Middle English miteyn & mitain, from the Old & Middle French mitan, miton & mitaine (mitten; half-glove), from Old French mitaine (Mitain noted as a surname from the mid-thirteenth century).  The Modern French spelling is mitaine, from the Frankish mitamo & mittamo (half), superlative of mitti (midpoint), from the Proto-Germanic midjô & midją (middle, center), from the primitive Indo-European médhyos (between, in the middle, center).  It was cognate with the Old High German mittamo & metemo (half, in the middle), the Old Dutch medemest (midmost) and the Old English medume (average, moderate, medium).  Related to all was the Medieval Latin mitta of uncertain origin but perhaps from the Middle High German mittemo & the Old High German mittamo (middle, midmost (reflecting the notion of "half-glove")), or from the Vulgar Latin medietana (divided in the middle) from the Classical Latin medius.  From circa 1755, a mitten was a "lace or knitted silk glove for women covering the forearm, the wrist, and part of the hand", a item of fashion for women in the early 1800s and revived at the turn of the twentieth century.  The now obsolete colloquial phrase from the 1820s get the mitten meaning “a man refused or dismissed as a lover", the notion receiving the mitten instead of the hand.  The only derived for is the adjective mittenlike; mittened apparently doesn’t exist.

Lindsay Lohan in gloves.

In general use, many things technically mittens are referred to as gloves.  Boxing gloves for example don't have separate fingers but there is actually a boxing mitt.  It features thicker knuckle padding compared to standard boxing gloves, designed to protect the hands from heavy boxing bag impacts.  Manufacturers caution that while they can be used for pad work, their dense foam protection is not ideal for sparring sessions.

George HW Bush demonstrates the World War II era "V for Victory" sign (left) and Lindsay Lohan deploys her signature "peace sign".

World War II (1939-1945) veteran George HW Bush (1924–2018; US President (George XLI 1989-1993)) would have remembered Winston Churchill's (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) wartime "V for victory" sign and that’s the meaning the gesture gained in the US.  Unfortunately he wasn’t aware of its significance in the antipodes: when given with the palm facing inwards, it’s the equivalent to the upraised middle finger in the US.  On a state visit to Australia in 1992, while his motorcade was percolating through Canberra, he made the sign to some locals lining the road.  What might have been thought a slight worked out well, the crowd lining the road cheering the gesture which must have been encouraging.  That same day, the president gave a speech advocating stronger efforts “to foster greater understanding” between the American and Australian cultures. The Lakeland Ledger, reporting his latest gaffe, wrote, “...wearing mittens when abroad would be a beginning”.

Bernie Sanders, (b 1941; US senator (independent) for Vermont since 2007 and "Crazy Bernie" in Donald Trump's (b 1946; US president 2017-2021 and since 2025) naming system) wearing mittens at Joe Biden's (b 1942; US president 2021-2025) inauguration, Washington DC, 20 January 2021.  Vermont folk are used to cold winters and the mittens attracted the meme-makers.  Here, comrade Bernie bookends the 1945 Yalta Conference with comrade Stalin (1878-1953; Soviet leader 1924-1953); between them are Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR, 1882–1945, US president 1933-1945).

Comrade Berine’s mittens were knitted by Vermont elementary school teacher Jen Ellis and the publicity generated by the inauguration photograph saw a sudden spike in demand; within hours of the posting, orders for thousands of pairs had been received.  Noting the interest, Ms Ellis immediately made three pairs for auction, the proceeds split between charities and her daughter's college fund.  An artisan creator and not in a position to support mass-production, the mitten-maker entered an arrangement with a manufacturer to produce a range of socks with the same pattern, the proceeds going to Vermont food banks, a cause which doubtlessly comrade Bernie would support.

Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis (left) at the “melting hair dye” press conference (although the New York Times (NYT) interviewed some expert hairdressers who suggested the substance might have been “mascara or a touch-up pen”, right), conducted a fortnight after the equally infamous event Mr Giuliani conducted in the car-park outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in November 2020.  Unlike those of George HW Bush, it’s believed Mr Giuliani’s use of the two-finger gesture usually should be interpreted in the antipodean way.

Jen Ellis the mitten-maker should not be confused with Jenna Ellis (b 1984), a lawyer who worked with Rudy Giuliani (b 1944) as part of Mr Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.  One of the many consequences of that campaign came in October 2023 when she pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings in the matter of assisting Mr Giuliani and others “knowingly, willfully and unlawfully” to make false statements during a Georgia legislative hearing in December 2020.  In a statement to the court, Ms Ellis admitted “I failed to do my due diligence…” and did not ensure “the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were, in fact, true.”  She was sentenced to five years of probation, a US$5,000 fine and 100 hours of community service.  In 2024 Ms Ellis reached an agreement with authorities in Arizona under which all charges against her would not be pursued, in exchange for her “full cooperation” with the prosecution of others also charged.

Mug shots of Jenna Ellis (left), Rudy Giuliani (centre) and Donald Trump (right).  The collection was another gift for the meme-makers but Mr Trump's team saw the commercial possibilities and within days a range of the usual merchandise (coffee mugs, T-Shirts etc) was available for purchase by the MAGA (Make America Great Again) faithful.

The recent release of the mug shots of Donald Trump and a number of his co-accused attracted comments about the range of expressions the subjects choose for the occasion.  Legal commentators made the point it's not a trivial matter because prosecutors, judges and juries all often are exposed to a defendant's mug-shot and the photograph may have some influence on their thoughts and while judges are trained to avoid this, the effect may still be subliminal.  Also, apart from the charges being faced, in the internet age, mug-shots sometimes go viral and modelling careers have been launched from their publication so for the genetically fortunate, there's some incentive to make the effort to look one's smoldering best.

The consensus appeared to be the best approach is to adopt a neutral expression which expresses no levity and indicates one is taking the matter seriously.  On that basis, Lindsay Lohan was either well-advised or was a natural as one might expect from one accustomed to the camera's lens.  Among Donald Trump's alleged co-conspirators there was a range of approaches and the consensus of the experts approached for comment seemed to be that Rudy Giuliani's was close to perfect as one might expect from a seasoned prosecutor well-acquainted with the RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) legislation he'd so often used against organized crime in New York City.  Many of the others pursued his approach to some degree although there was the odd wry smile.  Some though were outliers such as Jenna Ellis who smiled as if she was auditioning for a spot on Fox News and, of course, some of the accused may be doing exactly that.  However, the stand-out was Donald Trump who didn't so much stare as scowl and it doubtful if his mind was on the judge or jury, his focus wholly on his own image of strength and defiance and the run-up to the 2024 presidential election because while returning to the White House wouldn't automatically provide the mechanisms to solve all his legal difficulties, it'd be at least helpful.  In the short term Trump mug-shot merchandize became available, the Trump Save America JFC (joint fundraising committee) disclosing the proceeds from the sales of Trump mug-shot merchandize were allocated among the committees thus: 90% to Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc (2024 primary election) & 10% to Save America while any contribution exceeding the legal limit was allocated to the former.

Muffler & Scarf

Muffler (pronounced muhf-ler)

(1) A scarf worn around one's neck for warmth.

(2) Any of various devices for deadening the sound (especially the tubular device containing baffle plates in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle) of escaping gases of an internal-combustion engine; also known as silencers.

(3) Anything used for muffling sound.

(4) In armor, a mitten-like glove worn with a mail hauberk.

(5) A boxing glove (archaic).

(6) A slang term for a kiln or furnace, often electric, with no direct flames (technically a muffle furnace)

(7) A piece of warm clothing for the hands.

(8) The bare end of the nose between the nostrils, especially in ruminants.

(9) A machine with two pulleys to hoist load by spinning wheels, a polyspast (from the Latin polyspaston (hoisting-tackle with many pulleys), from the Ancient Greek πολύσπαστον (polúspaston) (compound pulley); a block and tackle.

(10) In World War I (1914-1918) soldier's slang, a gas-mask (some listings of military slang note it a "rare").

(11) An alternative term for the silencer (or suppressor) sometimes fitted to a gun (usually illicitly).

1525–1535: A compound word, the construct being muffl(e) + -er.  Muffle was from the Middle English muflen (to muffle), an aphetic alteration of the Anglo-Norman amoufler, from the Old French enmoufler (to wrap up, muffle), from moufle (mitten), from the Medieval Latin muffula (a muff), of Germanic origin (first recorded in the Capitulary of Aachen in 817 AD), from the Frankish muffël (a muff, wrap, envelope) from mauwa (sleeve, wrap) (from the Proto-Germanic mawwō (sleeve)) + vël (skin, hide) (from the Proto-Germanic fellą (skin, film, fleece)).  An alternate etymology traces the Medieval Latin word to the Frankish molfell (soft garment made of hide) from mol (softened, worn), (akin to the Old High German molawēn (to soften)) and the Middle High German molwic (soft), (mulch in English) + fell (hide, skin).  The suffix –er was from the Middle English –er & -ere, from the Old English -ere (agent suffix), from the Proto-Germanic -ārijaz (agent suffix).  Usually thought to have been borrowed from Latin –ārius, it was cognate with the Dutch -er and -aar, the Low German -er, the German -er, the Swedish -are, the Icelandic –ari and the Gothic -areis.  It was related to the Ancient Greek -ήριος (-ḗrios) and Old Church Slavonic -арь (-arĭ).  In English, it was reinforced by the synonymous but unrelated Old French –or & -eor (Anglo-Norman variant -our), from the Latin -(ā)tor, from the primitive Indo-European -tōr.  Muffler is a noun and mufflerless, unmufflered, demufflered & mufflered are adjectives; the noun plural is mufflers.

Scarf (pronounced skahrf)

(1) A long, broad strip of wool, silk, lace, or other material worn about the neck, shoulders, or head, for ornament or protection against cold, drafts etc.; a muffler.

(2) A necktie or cravat with hanging ends (archaic).

(3) A long cover or ornamental cloth for a bureau, table etc (rare).

(4) To cover or wrap with or as if with a scarf or to use in the manner of a scarf (verb).

(5) In carpentry, a tapered or otherwise-formed end on each of the pieces to be assembled with a scarf joint scarf joint (a lapped joint between two pieces of timber made by notching or grooving the ends and strapping, bolting, or gluing the two pieces together).

(6) In whaling, a strip of skin along the body of the whale, a groove made to remove the blubber and skin.

(7) In steelmaking, to burn away the surface defects of newly rolled steel.

(8) To eat, especially voraciously (often followed by down or up).

1545–1455: From the Old Norse skarfr (end cut from a beam), from skera (to cut) .  The sense of a scarf being a piece of material cut from a larger piece is actually based on the use in carpentry, linked to the Swedish skarf & the Norwegian skarv (patch) and the Low German and Dutch scherf (scarf).  The sense of eating quickly is a now almost extinct Americanism from 1955-1960, thought a variant of scoff, with r inserted probably through r-dialect speakers' mistaking the underlying vowel as an r-less ar.  Etymologists have suggested other lineages such as a link with the Old Norman French escarpe and the Medieval Latin scrippum (pilgrim's pack) but the alternatives have never attracted much support.  Scarf is a noun & verb and scarfie is a noun; the noun plural is scarves or scarfs.  There is no established convention (and certainly no rule) about which plural form is "correct" when referring to the neckwear so all that can be recommended is consistency.  In practice, "scarves" seems more commonly used of the clothing while "scarfs" must always be the spelling in the context of carpentry.    

Lindsay Lohan with Louis Vuitton Sprouse Roses Long Scarf.

Until well into the twentieth century, muffler and scarf were used interchangeably but as the vocabulary associated with motor vehicles became commonplace, "muffler" became increasingly associated with the baffled mechanical device used to reduce the noise emanating from exhaust systems.  The automotive use swamped the linguistic space and muffler became less associated with the neck accessory although it never wholly went away and the upper reaches of the fashion industry maintain the distinction and it of course remains a staple in literary fiction.  Historically, of the garments, muffler was mostly British in use (Americans long preferring scarf) but scarf is now globally the most common form.  One geographically specific use was the "scarfie", a New Zealand slang form which began as a reference to a student at the University of Otago, based on the association with the signature blue-and-yellow scarf said habitually to be worn to signify allegiance to the provincial rugby union team (the Otago Rugby Football Union).  New Zealanders sometime in the mid-twentieth century abandoned mainstream religion and substituted worship of rugby and this was said to be something practiced with the greatest intensity at the University of Otago, the sense of group identity thought to have been reinforced by the country's only medical school having been located there for many decades.  The other great cultural contribution to Western culture was their part in the history of the "chunder mile". 

University of Otago Medical School.

The now-banned chunder mile was similiar in concept to the various "beer miles" still contested in some places, “chunder” being circa 1950s Australia & New Zealand slang for vomiting and of disputed origin.  The rules were simple enough, contestants being required to eat a (cold) meat pie, enjoyed with a jug of (un-chilled) beer (a jug typically 1140 ml (38.5 fl oz (US)) at the start of each of the four ¼ mile laps and, predictably, the event was staged during the university's orientation week.  Presumably, it was helpful that at the time the place was the site of the country’s medical school, thereby providing students with practical experience of both symptoms and treatments for the inevitable consequences.  Whether the event was invented in Dunedin isn’t known but, given the nature of males aged 17-21 probably hasn’t much changed over the millennia, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn similar competitions, localized to suit culinary tastes, have been contested by the drunken youth of many places in centuries past.  As it was, even in Dunedin, times were changing and in 1972, the Chunder Mile was banned “…because of the dangers of asphyxiation and ruptured esophaguses.”

Lindsay Lohan with Burberry scarf.  Made with a heavier fabric this would once have been called a muffler (as Vogue magazine et al still does).

Although not universal (especially in the US), in the better magazines, fashion editors still like to draw a distinction between the two, a scarf defined as an accessory to enhance the look and made from fabrics like silk, cotton or linen whereas a muffler is more utilitarian, bulkier and intended to protect from the cold and thus made from wool, mohair or something good at retaining body-heat.  That doesn't imply that inherently a muffler is associated with cheapness, the fashion houses able to see a market for a high-priced anything.  Occasionally, muffler is used in commerce as a label of something which looks like a small blanket, worn over the shoulders and resembling an open poncho.  They're said to offer great warmth.

So, scarves and mufflers are both accessories worn around the neck for either or both warmth and style but with historic differences in construction, size & shape, those differences no longer of the same significance because the term “muffler” has become a niche and “scarf” tends to prevail for most purposes.  However, for those who enjoy pedantry (or aspire to edit Vogue), the old conventions can be summarized thus:

Scarfs are usually rectangular or square in shape and available in many sizes and are made for a variety of materials including wool, silk, cotton or synthetic fabrics. They can be woven, knitted, or printed with patterns or designs.  Scarves generally are long and narrow compared to mufflers and can be worn in many styles, the most popular including draped around the neck, wrapped, or knotted.  Now often adopted as a fashion accessories to complement outfits or add a splash of color or texture, the seasonal choice will be dictated usually by temperature because, depending on material and thickness, a scarf can be as warming as a traditional muffler.

Mufflers are also long pieces of fabric, but they tend to be wider and thicker than the traditional, more decorative, scarves.  Being bulkier and there for warmth, mufflers are often knitted or crocheted and may have a more substantial texture to enhance the thermal properties.  The design of a muffler succeeds or fails on the basis of (1) the protection against the elements afforded and (2) the ease with which it snugly will wrap around the neck.  Inherently that means they don’t always offer the same versatility in styling offered by scarves but because the surface area is large, a sympathetic choice of colors or patterns offers interesting possibilities.  Strangely perhaps (and an indication of the way use has shifted), the neckwear worn by supporters of football clubs and such, although they are, in the conventional sense, mufflers, are always describes as scarfs although, in places like Cardiff Arms Park on a cold winter day, those with one wrapped around will be grateful for the warmth.

Avoiding the muffler

An electrically controlled exhaust system "cut-out", the modern version of the old, mechanical, "by-passes".

On cars, trucks and other vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) which generate their power by the noisy business of detonating hydrocarbons, mufflers are valued by most people because they make things much quieter.  That's almost always good although in the right place, at the right time, the unmuffled sound of a BRM V16 at 12,000 rpm remains one of the great experiences of things mechanical and on the road, a well-designed chosen combination of engine and muffler can produce a pleasing exhaust note, witness the Daimler V8s of the 1960s.  The BRM, like most racing cars in the era, was unmuffled because there's a price to be paid for quietness and that price is power, the addition to the exhaust system robbing ICE of efficiency.  To try to have the best of both worlds (and seem to comply with the law), some inventive types use "outlaw" (or "special") pipes which work by offering exhaust gasses a "shortcut" to the atmosphere.  In ICEs, there are both down-pipes and dump-pipes.  Their functions differ and the term down-pipe is a little misleading because some down-pipes (especially on static engines) actually are installed in a sideways or upwards direction but in automotive use, most do tend downwards.  A down-pipe connects the exhaust manifold to exhaust system components beyond, leading typically to first a catalytic converter and then a muffler (silencer), most factory installations designed deliberately to be restrictive in order to comply with modern regulations limiting emissions and noise.  After-market down-pipes tend to be larger in diameter and are made with fewer bends improving exhaust gas flow, reducing back-pressure and (hopefully) increasing horsepower and torque.   Such modifications are popular but not necessarily lawful.  Technically, a dump-pipe is a subset of the down-pipes and is most associated with engines using forced aspiration (turbo- & some forms of supercharging).  With forced-induction, exhaust gases exiting the manifold spin a turbine (turbocharger) or drive a compressor (supercharger) to force more of the fuel-air mixture into the combustion chambers, thereby increasing power.  What a dump-pipe does is provide a rapid, short-path exit for exhaust gases to be expelled directly into the atmosphere before reaching a down-pipe.  That obviously avoids the muffler, making for more power and noise, desirable attributes for the target market.  A dump pipe is thus an exit or gate from the exhaust system which can be opened manually, electronically, or with a “blow-off” valve which opens when pressure reaches a certain level.  In the happy (though more polluted) days when regulations were few, the same thing was achieved with an exhaust “by-pass” or “cut-out” which was a mechanical gate in the down-pipe and even then such things were almost always unlawful but it was a more tolerant time.  Such devices, lawful and otherwise, are still installed.