ETYMOLOGY
of unknown origin;
possibly from maffle (to talk or act in a silly manner)
EXAMPLE
“… If I had a souple-jack in my hand, wouldn’t I ken whaar to lay it. Don’t ye stand there ogglin’ like a gowk, ye strackle-brain’d scollops! Not a word out o yer head. I’ll hae nane o’ yer miff-maff here. Sarts! it’s bonny doins; fires out, and narra pittayta, and the best pou’t o’ the lot stole, and you sittin’ here croodlin’ in a scog! …”
From: The Shorter Works of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
The Bird of Passage, 1838
Lexicophilia 