Glasgow smile
Image:Tommy [Flanagan March 2012 (cropped).jpg|200px|thumb|Actor Tommy Flanagan has the scars of a Glasgow smile from having been attacked outside a bar in Glasgow.]
A Glasgow smile 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.
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. The practice is said to have originated in Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1920s and 30s.
Notable victims
- Fang Xiaoru, Chinese scholar-official
- Agustín Lara, Mexican composer
- William Joyce, American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during World War II
- Elizabeth Short, also known as Black Dahlia, an American woman found murdered in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California
- Lee Seung-bok, a nine-year-old South Korean boy murdered by North Korean commandos
- Tommy Flanagan, a Scottish actor
In popular culture
In modern fiction, the Glasgow smile has become a characteristic physical feature of some incarnations of the Batman villain Joker, most famously in Heath Ledger's interpretation; the yakuza boss Masao Kakihara, from the manga Ichi the Killer; and the creepypasta character Jeff the Killer.In music, it is the name of the band Chelsea Grin. Additionally, there is a Bring Me the Horizon song by the title of Chelsea Smile.