Mutton Chops


I was watching a bit of the Tour de France cycle race the other day when I noticed that the race leader - the UK's very own Bradley Wiggins - was sporting a handsome set of 'sideburns'.

Now sideburns have been out of fashion for years - perhaps since the 1970s.

Yet this has not always been so which reminded me of the following piece of very interesting - if useless - information.

Because the word sideburns is actually an anagram of Burnside - named after a famous major general in the American Civil War (1861 to 1865) - whose impressive 'mutton chops' became known more commonly as 'sideburns'.

Now Bradley Wiggins has a long way to go before he gets anyway near Major General Burnside.

But I wonder if Bradley knows that he's following in the footsteps of such history - as he powers towards a well deserved victory in Paris on Sunday.

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