Confessions of a mugger

Hello all. This is my first official post!


You know how Singaporean students are known for 'studying too hard'? I think we probably do. To the extent that we require a unique verb/noun to describe our actions and ourselves. I'm talking about the word mug. In fact from the verb mug, there is even a noun to go along with that, the noun mugger.

So what does this mug/mugger thing mean in the Singaporean context at least? Well, firstly when a fellow student calls you a mugger, you are actually being despised so don't even start acting like you're flattered. Or don't start thinking you've committed a crime of some sort. The term mugger carries a slight negative connotation, referring to those hard-core geeks/nerds who study 25 hours a day and furiously do their homework like there's no tomorrow.

In short, those who study way too much and most of the time more than what is actually required. The verb mug then refers to their actions, or the act of studying too much. In fact, you could even talk of closet muggers (people who are secretly muggers yet try to cover it up but in actual fact study real hard when they get home, then ace the exams leaving everyone dumbfounded and feeling cheated), which is an interesting usage of the adjective closet normally used to describe homosexuals who don't admit they are.

Some proof. I was checking my facebook account when I came across one of my friend's status which read..

Of course, for privacy purposes I had to blank out my friend's name.

Checking this meaning of mugging against the one which is used in standard English, we find that the meanings differ greatly. Here's what the Longman Dictionary says:

mug means..

• to attack someone and rob them in a public place
• to make silly expressions with your face or behave in a silly way, especially for a photograph or in a play (American English informal)

Then I saw this:

mug up phrasal verb

informalSE to try to learn something in a short time, especially for an examination

OH. So the verb mug when we Singaporeans wish to scorn each other for studying too hard, actually came from the phrasal verb 'mug up'! Okay.. I guess this is juz another typical scenario where we luv to shorten words 2 make reading and typing ezier for u and i. No complains here. I'm guilty of using the word 'mug' for studying too! Don't tell me you've never used it before! However, the usage of the verb mug up still differs a little from the way we use it. Because we don't just use it when we're trying to learn something within constraints of time, but also generally to refer to the act of studying.

All these usages of the word mug could make our youth muggers today be easily misunderstood as a dangerous and violent group of people mostly gathered in libraries and MacDonald outlets. This reminds me of one of my sister's favourite lines 'You don't want to get on the wrong side of angry muggers'. Either way you have it.

And time to start mugging now.. =p