Tag archives: Ambrose Burnside

Why do we call the short whiskers at the side of a man’s face sideburns?

An American general of the nineteenth century, by the name of Ambrose E. Burnside, was immediately recognizable from his mutton chop whiskers and moustache, combined with (unusually) a clean-shaven chin. Thanks to his trend-setting, and from the 1870s onwards, people were calling this style a Burnside. The whims of fashion meant that the moustache was [...]

Posted on: January 4 2012 | Posted by: | Comments: 2 | Categories: Word origins | Tags: , , , ,