mofo

[Jonathan Lighter]

May I recommend HDAS II for its wide selection of "m.f"-style partial euphemisms ?

Including, of course, "m.f."

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: mofo
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On Mar 25, 2005, at 12:26 AM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
> Subject: Re: mofo
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> I used to hear something like "muh-fuh" for "motherf*cker" or
> "motherf*cking" routinely at school around 1961. It wasn't QUITE
> /mVfV/,
> maybe more like /mV at fV/ with just a trace of the second syllable of
> "mother" remaining but with both the "th" sound (which was sometimes
> "d"
> when fully pronounced) and the "k" sound entirely elided (except for
> maybe
> a ghost of a glottal stop at the end). It may be that the young fellows
> were putting on an exaggerated pronunciation as Wilson Gray suggests,
> but I
> did not perceive it that way at the time, and it could not have been
> euphemistic (but could have been a "tough guy" or "cool guy"
> affectation
> maybe). I don't think I've heard this lately.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>

Doug, my friend, when I said that ''muhfuh" was pseudo-euphemistic
pronunciation, I had in mind only my personal experience amongst that
vanishingly-small portion of the colored population with whom I am or
have been personally acquainted. Among them, it definitely is the case
that any pronunciation other than "muthuhfuckuh" or "motherfucker"
really is considered a pseudo-euphemism. That is to say, though the
speaker hasn't actually said "motherfucker," hearers are fully aware
that that's what he means. You wouldn't use this when talking to your
parents, but you might use it with your wife or your girlfriend,
perhaps saying "Pardon my French" or some such thing. And, of course,
there's the age gap. By 1961, I had already spent several years in the
Army. Furthermore, any two consecutive syllables or even two
consecutive words, one beginning with "m" followed by one beginning
with "f" can be interpreted as a coded form of "motherfucker." An
example of this kind of coded form is the phrase, "my friend." ;-)

-Wilson Gray


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