What is a mullet?

Posted by Bob on November 27, 2001

In Reply to: What is a mullet? posted by Aasvogel on November 26, 2001

: Appart from the obvious fish reference.
: A mullet is a dodgey 70's haircut, long almost shoulder length at the back and sides, layered as it reaches the ears finishing with a fringe and short ( maybe 2 inches long ) sticking up on the top of the head. The most famous exponent used to be British DJ Pat Sharp, now thankfully cut short.

There is another, and somewhat older slang reference. A mullet, which is (literally) a fish reportedly so stupid that it will take almost any bait, was adopted as slang by stock brokerage "boilerroom" operators as a term for an investor gullible enough to fall for any sales pitch revolving around a "story" stock. My sources in that shady industry tell me another word for mullet is "dentist."

The name for the haircut came a little later, and it is appropriate inasmuch as it reduces the wearer's IQ to room temperature. There was a recent New Yorker magazine cartoon with a mullet-wearer in a barber chair, telling the barber "leave it long in the back so I can look like a nincompoop." (That got put up on the refrigerator.)

• Mullet site ESC 11/27/01