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Revision as of 20:15, 14 December 2007 by Nscheffey (talk | contribs) (rm poop)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A Mother insult is a reference to a person's mother through the use of phrases such as "your mother" or other regional variants, frequently used to insult the target by way of his or her mother. Used as an insult, "your mother..." preys on widespread sentiments of filial piety, making the insult particularly and globally offensive. "Your mother" can be combined with most types of insults, although suggestions of promiscuity are particularly common. Insults based on obesity, incest, poverty, poor hygiene, unattractiveness, or stupidity may also be used. Compared to other types of insults, "your mother" insults are especially likely to incite violence. Slang variants such as "yo momma", "yer ma" or "your mom" are sometimes used, depending on the local dialect. Insults involving "your mother" are commonly used when playing the dozens. Additionally, this phrase is frequently used in playful banter between friends. Although this may appear to be a recent phenomenon, one can trace its roots far back in history. Indeed, William Shakespeare utilized such a device in Act I Scene 1 of Timon of Athens:
Painter: "Y'are a dog."
Apemantus: "Thy mother's of my generation. What's she, if I be a dog?"
Although the phrase has a long history of including a description portion (such as the old, mostly harmless insult "your mother wears Army shoes"), the phrase "yo mama" by itself, without any qualifiers, has become commonly used as an all-purpose insult or an expression of defiance.
Use as a retort
"Your mother" is also sometimes used as a sarcastic or tongue-in-cheek retort to either a mild criticism or even an innocuous statement. This often results in a sexual innuendo, as in the following example:
- Speaker 1: What are you doing?
- Speaker 2: Your mother.
The classic "Your mother" joke is of the form: Your mother is so (blank) she (blank), in which the first blank is substituted for fat, stupid, etc., and the second is an example of the first blank. See also Snowclone for the more general type of this form of sentence construction or The dozens for further information about this type of joke.
It is also occasionally used as a retort nonsensically; that is, when even though it would not make sense in the situation, it is used, (usually when nothing else can be thought of) as in the following example:
- Speaker 1: I told you to knock before you enter my room!
- Speaker 2: Your mom.
In popular culture
"Your mother" jokes became common in North American pop culture in the early nineties, but were jumpstarted a little in the 2000s with the use of "your mother goes to college" in the ever-popular Napolean Dynamite movie. The Pharcyde's 1992 track "Ya Mama" echoed it. Mexican film Y Tu Mama Tambien's title is an equivalent usage in Spanish ("and your mother too"). There is also a television show Yo Momma featuring contestants "playing the dozens". The Yo Momma-affiliated Web 2.0 community YoMomma.tv allows users to exchange mother insults in online battles. The Australian hiphop outfit Butterfingers released a song called "Yo Mama" that made number 17 on the 2004 Triple J Hottest 100.
In the early nineties, British comedy duo Newman and Baddiel of The Mary Whitehouse Experience added an extra layer of irony to the mother insult by using it extensively in their "History Today" routines in which two restrained elderly university professors debate history seriously until breaking into childish insults, often using the format "See that X? That's your mum that is."
See also
- The dozens
- Fighting words
- Maledicta
- Taunt
- Chav
- Yo Momma - TV series
References
- ^ Andrew Conway (1994). "You're ugly, your dick is small and everybody fucks your mother: The Stand Up Comedian's Response to the Heckler". Maledicta. 11. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
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Ayoub, Millicent R. (October-December). "Ritualized Verbal Insult in White High School Culture". The Journal of American Folklore. 78 (310): 337–344. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|year=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link) - "The mother of all insults". The Guardian Unlimited. 2006-06-12. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
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Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (Media notes). Los Angeles, California: Delicious Vinyl. 1992.
{{cite AV media notes}}:|format=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|albumlink=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|bandname=ignored (help) - Katrina Lobley (2005-08-19). "Degeneration Y". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-03-02.