What is a Mascot? Where Does the Word Come from?

When you buy a packet of Kellogg’s Frosties you see Tony the tiger looking strangely humanoid (like a human) at you, and we have all been intimidated by the terrifying clown at McDonalds. These are mascots. Mascots are characters that represent a brand, a product, or a business. Wright English has Rupert the adorable (cute) fat robin. Rupert represents my lock-down tummy, my relaxed attitude to life, and he is permanently celebrating life like me.

I recently learned from a very funny British podcast No Such Thing as a Fish, that the word mascot was first recorded in 1867 by French composter Edmond Audran. He wrote an opera called “La mascotte”, and the usage at the time meant ‘lucky charm’. It began as a slang word (a word used unofficially by common people, but not considered part of the formal language) used often by gamblers to describe their lucky object. This could be the rabbit foot, which is not so lucky for the rabbit, the Chinese lucky cat, or the frog with money in its mouth. Audran’s opera was about a young woman who came to a farm as a virgin (she had never had sex). She told the farmer that as long as she stayed a virgin, his farm would flourish (be very healthy and successful). The story follows the increasing luck of the farm, and its eventual troubles when the young woman has sex for the first time and the luck is broken. I do wonder sometimes what the life of a complete stranger has to do with the success of a crop of potatoes, but the olden days liked a bit of magical thinking.

Once again the language parent of an English word is French, is anyone surprised? I imagine taking the French out of the English language and we would be left saying “Pyjamas, Doollally!” and waving our arms at each other. I recommend No Such Thing as a Fish for advanced learners who enjoy comedy and facts.

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