muttnik

English

Etymology

Blend of mutt +‎ sputnik

Pronunciation

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Noun

muttnik (plural muttniks)

1. (slang, humorous) A dog that is launched into space.
   • 1958 June, Boys' Life, volume 48, number 6, page 4:

     If they can get a muttnik up, I don't see why we can't put up a burro-nik.

   • 1958, House of Commons debates, official report (Canadian Parliament)

     The advent of sputniks and muttniks has aroused apprehension as to whether we are training the best brains we have in sufficient numbers to keep up with developments in other countries.

   • 1958, Ray Anderson and the Home Folks – Sputniks and Mutniks [sic] (Starday Records 45-342, 1958)

     Sputniks and muttniks, flying through the air.

   • 2007 November 4, Carol Kino, “Boldly, Where No Dog Had Gone Before”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     But a quieter celebration of Laika and her colleagues can be found here at the Museum of Jurassic Technology, where glowing oil portraits of five of the most lauded muttniks (as they were nicknamed by the American press) have been displayed for close to two years.