“Muckle” Can Mean to Grab and Hold Tight
The word muckle means “grab, seize, or tackle and hold tight,” and it’s especially associated with New Hampshire, Maine, and parts of Massachusetts. Eric from Monroe, New Hampshire, says most people he’s talked with have never heard of it, but his older brothers used to threaten him saying things like, If you don’t cut it out, I’m gonna muckle you! You can also muckle onto a rope, the end of a couch, or an idea, and you can even muckle onto someone when kissing them passionately. The origin of the word muckle is unclear. It may be influenced by an older Scots or Northern England word meaning “large” or “much,” although it may well have to do with the idea of muck as a verb applied to doing physically demanding work, such as mucking out a stall. For more than a century, the military has used muckle through as a joking mispronunciation of “muscle through.” This is part of a complete episode.
