The etymology of
mawkish really opens up a can of worms—or, more properly, maggots. The first part of mawkish derives from Middle English
mawke, which means "maggot."
Mawke, in turn, developed from the Old Norse word
mathkr, which had the same meaning as its descendant. The majority of English speakers eventually eschewed the word's
dipteran implications (
mawk still means "maggot" in some dialects of British English), and began using it figuratively instead. As language writer Ivor Brown put it in his 1947 book
Say the Word, "Time has treated 'mawkish' gently: the wormy stench and corruption of its primal state were forgotten and 'mawkish' became sickly in a weak sort of way instead of repulsive and revolting."
