We pronounced it "mittlin". It comes from "middle", obviously. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane Ellis" <jane_helv@hotmail.com> Actually, it is 'fair to middlin' and it had to do with grading cotton, middlin' cotton was a better grade. From: "Don Watson" <dwats@cox.net> My Dad used that expression all the time: "Fair to mittlin," meaning "fair, to somewhere in the middle, less than good."