crumpet

Origin: First appears c. the 17th century, either from wafer, literally, curled-up cake, from crompid, form of to curl up; cognate to crumpled. An alternate etymology is from ; compare and . The sense of a “desirable woman” is attested since 1936, possibly as Cockney rhyming slang for strumpet; alternatively, compare a loose woman, a prostitute (itself possibly Cockney rhyming slang for heart or sweetheart). Note that muffin has a similar sense, and that, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Muffins and crumpets was a familiar street-cry in the UK. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).