[Ads-l] Correction for "Your Mama" Not in OED

[Shapiro, Fred]

I had a typo in the last sentence of the citation: "If the ain't" should be "If that ain't".

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2026 1:17 PM
To: American Dialect Society <ads-l at listserv.uga.edu>
Subject: "Your Mama" Not in OED

The African American expression "your mama," stemming from the "dozens" game, is not included in the OED.  Below is the earliest I have found it in print:

1955 Langston Hughes in Chicago Defender 3 Sept. 9 (ProQuest)  When it comes time for him to graduate from the Merchant Marines School, all the head man said was, 'Your mama!' ... If the ain't the dozens, I don't know what is.

Fred Shapiro

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