Editing Muggle (section)

== Other usages ==
The word ''muggle'', or ''muggles'', is now used in various contexts in which its meaning is similar to the sense in which it appears in the Harry Potter book series. Generally speaking, it is used by members of a group to describe those outside the group, comparable to ''civilian'' as used by military personnel. Whereas in the books ''muggle'' is consistently capitalized, in other uses it is often predominantly lowercase.

* According to the BBC quiz show ''[[QI]]'', in the episode "Hocus Pocus", ''muggle'' was a 1930s jazz slang word for someone who uses cannabis. "Muggles" is the title of a 1928 recording by [[Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra]].
* A ''muggle'' is, according to Abbott Walter Bower, the author of the ''Scotichronicon'', "an Englishman's tail". In Alistair Moffat's book ''A History of the Borders from Early Times'', it is stated that there was a widely held 13th-century belief amongst Scots that Englishmen had tails.<ref>Alistair Moffat, ''The Borders: a history of the Borders from earliest times'', 2002, Deerpark Press, {{ISBN|9780954197902}}, pp.211-212</ref>
* Ernest Bramah referred to "the artful Muggles" in a detective story published decades before the Potter books ("The Ghost at Massingham Mansions", in ''The Eyes of Max Carrados'', Doran, New York, 1924).
* Muggles is the name of a female character in the children's book ''[[The Gammage Cup]]'' by Carol Kendall published in 1959 by Harcourt, Brace & World.
* Published in 1982, Roald Dahl's character the Big Friendly Giant uses the word "Muggled" while describing a good dream to the other main character, Sophie - “And the whole school is then cheering like mad and shouting bravo well done, and, for ever after that, even when you is getting your sums all gungswizzled and muggled up, Mr. Figgins is always giving you ten out of ten and writing Good Work Sophie in your exercise book.” – ''[[The BFG]]''. Roald Dahl also names a family of monkeys "The Muggle-Wumps" in ''[[The Twits]]'' and other works.
* ''Muggle'' was added to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' in 2003, where it is said to refer to a person who is lacking a skill.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_2882000/2882895.stm |title=BBC: 'Muggle' goes into Oxford English Dictionary |date=24 March 2003 |work=BBC News |access-date=5 January 2010 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519063809/http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_2882000/2882895.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Muggle'' is used in informal English by members of small, specialised groups, usually those that consider their activities to either be analogous to or directly involve magic (such as within [[hacker culture]];<ref>''[[Jargon File]]'': [http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/M/muggle.html muggle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008183303/http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/M/muggle.html |date=8 October 2007 }}</ref> and [[pagan]]s, [[Magic (illusion)|magicians]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Conjuring Terms - Magicpedia |url=https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Conjuring_Terms#M |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=geniimagazine.com |archive-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229214606/https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Conjuring_Terms#M |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Neopagan]]s and [[Wicca]]ns)<ref>Faith von Adams, "I Roomed with a Muggle", New Witch Magazine, Issue 5 (Fall 2003) pg. 34</ref> to refer to those outside the group.
* ''Muggle'' (or ''geomuggle'') is used by geocachers to refer to those not involved in or aware of the sport of [[geocaching]]. A cache that has been tampered with by non-participants is said to be plundered or ''muggled''.<ref>{{cite web | title = Geocaching Glossary | publisher = Geocaching.com | url = http://www.geocaching.com/about/glossary.aspx#Geomuggle | access-date = 20 September 2007 | archive-date = 21 April 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220421091751/https://www.geocaching.com/about/glossary.aspx#Geomuggle | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Trademark lawsuit===
Nancy Stouffer, author of ''The Legend of Rah and the Muggles'' (1984) accused Rowling of a [[trademark]] violation for the use of the term "muggles", as well as copyright violations for some similarities to her book.<ref>Burden of Proof 'Harry Potter' Book Lawsuit: 'Legend of Rah and Muggles' Author Claims Trademark Violations, Burden of Proof, CNN Transcripts, 5 July 2000, https://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728111829/https://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm |date=28 July 2022 }}</ref>  Rowling and Scholastic, her publisher, sued for declaratory judgment and won on a [[summary judgment]] motion,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm|title=Stouffer v. Rowling Summary Judgment Decision, Sept. 17, 2002|website=www.eyrie.org|access-date=1 March 2018|archive-date=28 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728111829/https://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> based on a lack of likelihood of confusion.