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

[Ben Zimmer]

Here's Langston Hughes in 1948.

---
Chicago Defender, July 24, 1948, p. 14, col. 7 [ProQuest]
Langston Hughes, "Here to Yonder: Those Little Things"
I wonder if, when the Kinsey Report gets around to Negroes, it will take up
the subject of "the dozens" -- that fabulous game few whites seem to
comprehend, even on the simplest level. I one knew a colored chauffeur who
told me that one morning he had used his people's car to do a little
shopping on his own, since the boss was not going out until noon. The
chauffeur forgot to remove some of his parcels from the back seat where he
had placed them as the dog had been riding in front.
At noon when the boss emerged from the house to get in the car, he demanded
in a rather sharp tone, "Whose things are these on the back seat here?"
The way he spoke made the Negro mad. So, feeling evil anyhow, the chauffeur
replied, "Your mama's."
"Not at all," said the white man. "Mother has not been out this morning."
Fortunately, a complete lack of understanding of the little nuances
involved prevented the chauffeur from getting fired.
---

On Sun, Mar 15, 2026 at 7:06 PM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> 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
>
> ________________________________
> 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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