Mud is an Old English word that has been with us since at least 1400. Other words for mud listed in the Oxford English Dictionary include slobber, slabber, slutch, lutulence, sloshiness and slushiness. In the construction industry, mud is a semi-fluid material that can be used to coat, seal, or adhere materials. The term "mud" can be used for various semi-fluid materials used in construction including slurry, mortar, plaster, stucco, and concrete.
With a good foundation, and an overhanging the roof that reaches 3 to 4 feet beyond the outer wall, the mud house might last a thousand years. The ceremonial enclosure of Khasekhemwy–Hierakonpolis' only standing monument is built entirely of sun-dried mud brick, with walls 5 meters (16.4 feet) thick and still preserved in places to its original imposing height of 9 meters (29.5 feet). It is the oldest freestanding mud-brick structure in the world.
One's name is mud means that one is unpopular or perhaps in disgrace or embroiled in scandal. A popular theory for this expression's origin derives it from Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who was convicted as conspirator after he set the broken ankle of President Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. But the expression was first recorded in 1823, when mud was slang for a stupid person or fool, a usage dating from the early 1700s.
Here's mud in your eye is a friendly and jocular toast used before taking a drink with friends. It is said in a humorous and ironic way just to signal to companions to take a drink. The exact source of this expression is unclear. Some people speculate it relates to mud from the trenches in World War 1. Because the soldiers had to dig, live and fight in these trenches in the earth, they would get very muddy. Others point to the Bible as the source, as Jesus heals a blind man with mud.