As with most things dog, there’s a name for that! Did you know that the magnificent, pendulous lips of a Bulldog are called “chops?”

We don’t know the origin of the term, and it would be the height of speculation for us to wonder if the term’s origin isn’t related to a 19th trend in which men wore long side burns called, “mutton chops” (if one got punched in the face, they had their “chops busted,” see?) Since a Bulldog’s short face and jaw gave it a deep stop in relation to its nose which was higher, his muzzle slanted back and his lips, or “chops” hung well below the mouth much the same way a mutton chops did on the men who wore them. But as we said, it’s only speculation.

English Bulldog image from Wikicommons and shared under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain
General Ambrose Burnside, photo by Matthew Brady