The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. Widely panned as a lowbrow and unappealing hairstyle, and facetiously referred to as "business up front, party out back," the mullet began making appearances in the popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not catch on with the general populace until the early 1980s. It continued to be popular until the early 1990s and has enjoyed a partial return to favor a...
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The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. Widely panned as a lowbrow and unappealing hairstyle, and facetiously referred to as "business up front, party out back," the mullet began making appearances in the popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not catch on with the general populace until the early 1980s. It continued to be popular until the early 1990s and has enjoyed a partial return to favor as a retro look in the 2000s.
It is unclear whether there is an etymological relation between the term mullet as a hairstyle and the slang used to denote a stupid person in the late 20th century. There are also no known etymological connections with the Mullet fish. Conflating the two into one, a mullet wearer and a mullethead, is a product of the 1990s, several decades into the style's popular appearance.
As detailed in the Oxford English Dictionary, the term mullet as derogatory slang for a mullet wearer was "apparently coined, and certainly...
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