[Ads-l] 1902 "Your mother" cite from Elijah Wald

[Ben Yagoda]

Elijah Wald, author of “The Dozens” and many other excellent books, writes on Facebook:

"I just ran across the earliest mention yet of the use of 'your mother,' by itself, as a fighting phrase, in the New Orleans Times-Democrat from June, 1902. The venue was 'Theo Lala's negro barroom at the corner of Franklin and Customhouse streets' -- a saloon famously remembered as the 25 or Big 25, which was a regular hang-out for Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, and other early jazz musicians -- and the fight involved a pair of men named Baptiste Cherrie and George Hall. 
“'Hall made some remark, to which Cherrie replied: 'What did you say.' 

“'I said your mother,' rejoined Hall. 

"Cherrie immediately drew his knife and stabbed Hall…” 

Ben
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