Glasgow smile

"Chelsea grin" redirects here. For the deathcore band, see Chelsea Grin.

"Chelsea smile" redirects here. For the metalcore song by Bring Me the Horizon, see Chelsea Smile (song).

For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation).

A Glasgow smile (also known as a Chelsea grin/smile, or a Glasgow, Smiley, Huyton, A buck 50 or Cheshire grin) is a wound caused by making a cut from the corners of a victim's mouth up to the ears, leaving a scar in the shape of a smile.^[2][3]

Actor Tommy Flanagan has the scars of a Glasgow smile from having been attacked outside a bar in Glasgow.^[1]

The act is usually performed with a utility knife or a piece of broken glass, leaving a scar which causes the victim to appear to be smiling broadly.^[4]

The practice is said to have originated in Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1920s and 30s.^[5]

Notable victims

• Agustín Lara (1897–1970), Mexican composer
• William Joyce (1906–1946), American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during World War II
• Elizabeth Short (1924–1947), also known as Black Dahlia, an American woman found murdered in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California
• Lee Seung-bok (1959–1968), a nine-year-old South Korean boy murdered by North Korean commandos
• Tommy Flanagan (born 1965), a Scottish actor

See also

• Colombian necktie
• Dueling scar
• Glasgow kiss/Glaswegian kiss
• Glasgow razor gangs
• Glasgow's miles better – 1980s advertising campaign
• Joker (The Dark Knight)
• Kuchisake-onna ("Slit-Mouthed Woman")
• Slashing (crime)

References

1. Fretts, Bruce (12 November 2014). "Sons of Anarchy's Tommy Flanagan on Those Facial Scars, This Final Season, and Chibs". Vulture. New York. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
2. Mills, Rod (27 October 2008). "Surgeon Says Hospitals Treat a Knife Victim Every Six Hours". The Daily Express. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
3. Arlidge, John (24 April 1995). "City Slicker Glasgow". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
4. Peter Ward Booth; Barry L. Eppley; Rainer Schmelzeisen (2003), Maxillofacial trauma and esthetic facial reconstruction, Churchill Livingstone, p. 555, ISBN 9780443071249
5. McKay, Reg (19 October 2007). "Razor gangs ruled the streets but even in the violence of pre-war years, one man stood out". Daily Record. Glasgow. Retrieved 12 January 2019.