Who's your daddy?

[Grant Barrett]

While the phrase appears in the Zombies song, there it doesn't seem to
me to include the subtext found in the current use. The current "who's
your daddy" is also not the literal, "Who is you father and what does
he do?" Nor do I think it is saying "you're a bastard" or "you're a son
of a bitch," although there could be echos of either.

For "daddy," HDAS has, among other defs, "the finest, largest, or most
striking example," "a man who is an important influence in a field,"
and "the lover and protector of a prostitute; pimp." Somewhere in the
intersection of these we have our  daddy in "who's your daddy?"

I'd say the latest "who's your daddy?" is a statement, a rhetorical
question, one that claims the speaker has the upper hand. It says, "I
am the pimp and you my bitch." "I 0wn joo." "Pwnded!1!1!" "I am the
boss of you." "You have been/are being dominated." "You are
subservient." Or, in the case of crowds shouting it, it means "You
suck."

There's also the question of popularization.

A sig in a Usenet post, 20 August 19992: "GO BROWNS!!! WHO'S YOUR
DADDY!!!"
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9208201312.AA20454%40TIS.COM

29 April 1993: 'Bob is the wildest guy in school. For instance, he'll
jump on people's backs and shout "Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?"'
http://groups.google.com/groups?
selm=1993Apr29.154236.3222%40Princeton.EDU

There's a similar but uncertain mention of it in a 11 Sept. 1993
article connected with hockey and the Might Ducks in the L.A. Times:
Finally, Coleman asked him just to let go and be weird, like walking up
to a fan and saying, "I've got three eyes." Besides skating with the
keyboard, Coleman explained, the Iceman will work the crowds, from the
box seats to the upper deck, hamming for the stadium's big screen.
"Wow, this is new for me," the performer said, pondering what to do.
Then, walking up behind Frawley, who was stationed in a chair as the
guinea pig, he said: "Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?"

Apr. 21 1994, "Damn, I knew Brad was good, but *not that good* I guess
you liked that "who's your daddy" talk. Personally, I dig dominating
him, try that sometime."
http://groups.google.com/groups?
selm=1994Apr21.083253.1%40ptag2.pt.cyanamid.com

Dennis Miller used it in his 1996 book "Rants," which may have been
derived from his HBO television show. In it, he gives advice to men:
"This is very important. During lovemaking: Don't ask, 'Who's your
daddy?' Even as a joke. All right? It's not funny." Given that Miller
is the kind of guy who people (used to) quote the next morning, I think
he'd deserve some credit for popularization.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385478046/

This pro wrestling fantasy fiction (who knew such a thing existed?) has
it from Mar. 3 1997, and there are many other hits of the term
associated with the "sport," too.
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=331c23f7.327406%40news.ox.ac.uk

The phrase was also used to great effect in the first "American Pie"
film, in 1999, which is when I first remember hearing the term used in
the current way. Actress Alyson Hannigan (the red-haired gal with the
widow's peak who is also a fixture on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
series) plays a timid girl who seems to begin every sentence with "One
time, in band camp..." However, at a big end-of-the-year party, her
true self comes out, and in the bedroom with a character played by
Jason Biggs (the pie-violator), she takes control, pushes him down on
the bed, straddles him, and begins shouting, "Who's your daddy? Who's
your daddy, bitch?" Later Biggs's character muses about how nice it was
to be objectified.

Grant Barrett


On Oct 14, 2004, at 10:58, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:

>> Anyone have any information about the origins of the phrase "Who's
>> your
>> daddy?" This phrase was
>> recently used by Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez. A reporter wants to
>> know.
>