Mau-Mauing

[Geoff Nathan]

Those who do not remember the sixties weren't there.

Geoffrey S. Nathan
Faculty Liaison, C&IT
and Associate Professor, Linguistics Program
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)
+1 (313) 577-8621 (English/Linguistics)

----- "Ann Burlingham" <ann at BURLINGHAMBOOKS.COM> wrote:

> From: "Ann Burlingham" <ann at BURLINGHAMBOOKS.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 7:48:49 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Mau-Mauing
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> 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.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org