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

[Shapiro, Fred]

Could be, but I wasn't able to find any in an hour of research.  Newspapers and books may have considered those spellings to be too informal to print.

Fred Shapiro

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <00001c05436ff7cf-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2026 1:19 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: "Your Mama" Not in OED

Might there be an antedate for “yo mama” or “yo’ mama”?


> On Mar 15, 2026, at 1:17 PM, Shapiro, Fred <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>
> 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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