Mau-Mauing

[Jonathan Lighter]

Wolfe's essay was a big deal when it appeared and the phrase became a book
title  shortly afterwards.

JL

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 7:48 AM, Ann Burlingham <ann at burlinghambooks.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ann Burlingham <ann at BURLINGHAMBOOKS.COM>
> Subject:      Mau-Mauing
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Boy, did I have to look for this reference after reading the Time
> piece "Mau Mauing the Flesh Eaters"
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Schuessler-t.html
>
> Finally got to the bottom of the wikipedia article for the presumed
> explanation & reference,
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau_Uprising
>
> "Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers, a 1970 essay by Tom Wolfe in which the
> titular metaphor "Mau-Mauing" compares the impression of aggressive
> race-based tactics used in the Mau-Mau Rebellion with the less violent
> but equally instructive collision of the seminal black-radical
> activist struggles of late-1960s New York City with politically naive
> white-liberal donors."
>
> It strikes me as a bit obscure. 140,000 Google hits for "mau-mauing"
> specifically, though. Huh.
>
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