1. I think (do not know , only have a feeling about it ,) it comes from begrudgery and pulling the other down.
Irish not the only one to do such. I speak another language that is lethal . Not so much slagging , just the 'throwaway' comment.
Cut to the bone .
2. This particular trend started about three (5?) years ago in SoCal / Texas (where else lol !!) , when a handful of
unrelated late 20somethings / early 30somethings for whatever reason grew their beards ZZ-Top-like , and they
happened to become successful / famous. ( I imagine they wanted to be different , be not 'of the herd' !)
TV shows , social media etc. would take care of the rest.
Then to cash in on it , came the Heineken commercials with the bearded guys .
As I said on another thread , when something original and 'groundbreaking' trickles down to the masses , it ain't so cool anymore.
Mark my words , now you're seeing a few of 'em young guys with beards , before long even the most uncultured and
uncouth bloke will be sporting one.
Beards you can shave ; Tatts removal more cumbersome ( expensive , painful ) .
Roll on next trend
xx