mugging
n.— «Before examining Nico’s psychosis though, I had to get myself psyched. On my way there, I listened to Tupac so that by the time I arrived, I was mugging (mugging- to look hard-core. Etymological root: “mug shot”).» —“Paintball: Where the savage can be savage” by Hector Leano in UCLA Daily Bruin (L.A.) May 4, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you’re understood and being insulted. “High-involvement” speakers interrupt or talk along with someone else to signal their enthusiasm...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...