Muffin top

A muffin top (also muffin-top) is a slang term typically used to describe a person's body fat that extends horizontally over the edges of the waistline of tightly fitting pants or skirts, visible when there is a gap between the upper and lower garment. The term is a reference to the way a muffin appears when it has been baked in a muffin tin, so that the top of the muffin extends horizontally over and around the top of the tin or casing.

This article is about the fashion phenomenon. For the 155th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld, see The Muffin Tops. For the baked good, see Muffin ยง Muffin top.
Muffin top visible at waist of a woman walking

Origin
A muffin, with its top wider than its bottom

Muffin-top originated as Australian slang in mid-2003,[1] but has since become popular in other English-speaking countries. Its use has also been adopted in many Non-English-Speaking countries across western Europe, such as Germany or France. It may have been first popularized by the Australian television show Kath & Kim.[2] Australia's Macquarie Dictionary named "muffin-top" the word of the year in 2006;[3] the American Dialect Society named it one of the "most creative" new terms that same year.[4] The Oxford English Dictionary added the term to its revised online edition in March 2011.[5]

According to William Safire, writing in The New York Times Magazine, "Muffin-top fills a lexical void" and "describes the roll of excess flesh spilling out primarily in front but possibly all around."[6]

By 2007, the fashion for low-waist trousers and skirts had lost ground to higher-waisted garments, making muffin tops less ubiquitous.[2]

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See also

References
  1. "'Muffin-top:' A bellybutton flasher losing the battle of the bulge". Taipei Times. 2005-08-28.
  2. Winterman, Denise (15 November 2007). "Is this the end of the muffin top?". BBC News. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. "Australian Dictionary Names "Muffin Top" Word Of 2006". wayodd.com. 2007-01-25.
  4. "Truthiness Voted 2005 Word of the Year by American Dialect Society" (PDF). American Dialect Society. 2006-01-06.
  5. "Muffin top". Oxford English Dictionary. 2011-03-24.
  6. Safire, William (2005-08-28). "On Language: Muffin-Top". The New York Times Magazine. When the wearer's abdomen is flat, a display of flesh above and well below the bellybutton produces an eye-catching picture of what The Scotsman in Britain has called the Britney belly-flash. However, when the wearer's midriff is flabby, a vivid culinary metaphor is used: muffin-top. As every baker knows, a muffin is a small cake that rises above its metal container. When removed from the pan, its shape is round, with the top hanging over the base of the cake like a small, harmless mushroom cloud.


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