Talk:"Yo mama" joke/Archive 1

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This page should be merged with The dozens because it is redundant; the page Your mom redirects to The dozens. SCHZMO ✍ 23:47, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Just do it already, this page shouldn't even exist! pm_shef 03:54, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

• Seperate linguistic concept While dozens uses "your mom" they are not the same thing. Dozens is an insult contest, while "your mom" is a specific type of insult, as well as a sarcastic retort. Dgies 22:29, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

The comments to merge above are about a far inferior prior version of the article.--Kchase T 04:49, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

I still think it should be merged, actually. --Galaxiaad 14:57, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

• Colloquial insults similar to Your mom are also found in the British (Your mum) and Irish (Yer ma) English, and they are in no way related to the Dozens. How about, rather than redirecting, adding the European equivalents to separate the context from The Dozens? Lauranen 13:49, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

• Merging the two makes no sense. "Your mom" has become much more than a simplistic element of a Dozens contest - that much is clear. 76.185.19.196 02:14, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

• Merging them would be dumb and redundant. Don't do it, the two are completely seperate. DurotarLord 14:35, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Please don't list "Your mom..." jokes here. It's unencyclopedic and duplicates the existing list at The Dozens. Dgies 05:48, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Yeah someone might want to get out into the sunlight sometime and notice how 'your mom' jokes in the movies and on tv aren't the same in delivery or content as the ones used in real life. --68.20.3.186

What about a link to Yo Mamma on MTV?--Xlegiofalco 18:58, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Aside from similarity in name, it has much more to do with The Dozens than it does with insulting mothers. Dgies 04:11, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Some poor soul who lives under a rock may need to know what the "Yo momma" title of the show refers to. I added a See Also section and put a link to Yo Momma and The dozens. Angrycrustacean 05:12, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

I know where you live poser —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.161.48.246 (talk)

I know where your mom lives. 137.22.25.157 05:11, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

LOL —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.26.101.71 (talk) 14:18, 9 February 2007 (UTC).

Should there be a "the use of an absurd attempt at an insult" in the retort section? That doesnt seem very neutral. --Kittens! 22:01, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Maybe add something to the effect not to use "Your mom" if the person's mother has passed away as this can ruin the nature of the "joke" quite substantially.

There has been some sort of wiki war regarding the examples. The current one is "Person 1: I'm going to the shop Person 2: Oh Yeah? Your Mom is going to the shop!"

There are basicly three usagesv(they overlap) I have seen so far (and many people, esp here in Montreal, have actually never heard of these, so there might be a point adding this to the wiki):

- one where person one says that p1 or p2 does or is something, and the 'retort' is that 'your mom' is or does the same thing

- one where p1 says something and p2 does not know what to retort, or does not actually intend to retort something that makes any sense. i.e. "Person 1: Your dumb! Person 2: Well.. Your Mom!"

- the third usage is usually in a somewhat ambiguous statement involving sexual allusions. i.e. "Person 1: What are you doing? Person 2: Your Mom!"

I agree that this might be silly and insulting, but its nevertheless part of north american youth culture; and since not everybody knows about it, maybe some examples would help... Anton

Agreed. I wouldn't be opposed to putting those three examples in, complete with more encyclopedic versions of the explanations you posted. I don't like the "going to the shop" example because it doesn't really make any sense as an insult, despite the article claiming "Your mom" is an insult. At the very least I think the one present example should be changed, possibly to "What are you doing?" as per your comment. Angrycrustacean 06:59, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

• I'm partly responsible for nuking the extra examples. It's because this can turn into a big pile of tasteless jokes really fast. I do agree that there are three common forms of retort. I suppose it would make sense to explain those three forms and give a single (non-gratuitous) example of each. I intentionally used a tame example because I didn't want to encourage "your mom"-joking vandals. Dgies 15:58, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Bit the bullet and added in refined versions of the examples Anton suggested, as well as removed the Napoleon Dynamite reference which I don't think had a place in the article now that we have more generic examples. Hopefully an expanded list won't encourage people to add more, but I feel the article is much more thorough now. Angrycrustacean 00:28, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

האמא שלך

Oh my god the Hebrew Wikipedia makes my head hurt! If you have a page for האמא שלך there, or want to make one feel free and I will gladly include a link to it. Dgies 02:36, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

That's cool. Your mom in Chinese: 你的媽媽. 75.178.178.11 03:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC) xIxFellxInxLovexAtxThexSeasidex

Your mom in Polish: twoja stara. It translates almost directly and is insultive in the same way. Doesn't look as impressive as Hebrew one, though. ;-) 193.59.72.35 16:38, 10 March 2007 (UTC) Kosma

There is/was a rok band called Your Mom; they appeared on the Road Rash: Jailbreak soundtrack. I'm not sure if that's notable, and the band didn't have muh success, but it is a good example of how famous the joke is in its own right. --Switch 09:44, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Can you please provide a reference for this? -- Dgies 15:59, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Other than owning the game myself, and having the soundtrack listed in-game and in the manual (on pg 23), I don't know of a site that lists all the soundtrack contributors. I only know that they contributed a song called "Cosa Nostra" to the game. The song details: Written by Josh Turner, Conor O'Neill; published by One ill (ASCAP), Blanket Party (ASCAP); recording courtesy of Do Ray Me. Their website, according to the game, used to be located at [1], but that domain name has been reassigned since then. Can't do better than that though, sorry. -Switch ^t 16:18, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if this is the same band, but it doesn't matter for the purpose you're suggesting. I added it to the article.--Kchase T 19:10, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Hey, I know it's nothing major, but a couple of times the article refers to it as being part of "North American culture", but I think it's much more of a global thing. It's just as common here in Britain, or in I think any european country212.32.11.115 15:47, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Agree that previous versions of the article were a bit provincial but the current one makes that mention only once while discussing American pop-culture references. —Dgies^t c 16:32, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Very right. In Germany, "Deine Mutter" (Your Mom) is a very common response to anything.

A page called The Dozens is basically the same thing as Your Mom. I think that this should be merged with that page because there really is no difference. Also, for The Dozens, stop calling it strictly an African-American tradition, because MANY non-African-Americans like to do this. --JustN5:12 02:41, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

• They were merged, but the dozens had very little info on the non-dueling uses of the term, and was getting a bunch of people asking "what the hell is this" expecting nonsense retorts instead of African American heritage. I'm not convinced its possible to write a single cohesive article which both covers African American insult dueling, and the more general use of people's mothers for insults or comebacks. —Dgies^t c 02:45, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
  • That brings up another point: The Dozens and variants of it are not just strictly an African American tradition.JustN5:12 00:46, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
    • The origins, heritage, and continuing use of insult duels are a complex enough issue I won't try to argue except to say the proper venue for it would be at Talk:The dozens. —Dgies^t c 02:15, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Something tells me that would be a good idea.

I've asked twice since the last unprotection. Feel free to try again at WP:RPP. They might appreciate the irony of a protection request coming from an anonymous user. —Dgies^t c 21:57, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

There should probably be a section with a few examples of use, such as on the That's What She Said article. I might add one later. Randomfrenchie 20:22, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

There used to be a section, but I removed it. The whole thing lacked references and was a huge magnet for people adding dumb jokes. Please don't add any more examples unless you have references for them from reliable sources. —dgies^t_c 20:39, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

How could you possibly cite sources for examples? It will not get vandalized much because it has been semi-protected. If it is vandalized, we will change it back. I do not think there should be 20 examples, but maybe 4 or 5. It would be good ones that the Wikipedia community agrees on. It wouldn't hurt. Randomfrenchie 01:04, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Difficulty in getting references is no excuse for adding material without it. Regarding semi protection: That is not permanent. Yet even when semi protected, well-meaning editors, whether unaware of the attribution policy, or just feeing silly, will add their own favorite your-mom comebacks. Look what happens to The dozens.

In an ideal world, we would have a small list of retorts, with citations for each one. In the real world, we need some mechanism to prevent the article from becoming a big list of things made up in school one day.

It might seem that I'm being a big spoilsport, but I managed to take what was a bunch of bad jokes replaced with a redirect, and turn it into a moderately complete, serious, well-referenced article so I'd rather not see it backslide. —dgies^t_c 02:49, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

It was requested that this article be renamed but there was no consensus for it be moved. --Stemonitis 11:34, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

This article needs a rewrite. It's telling a story and this is not a book. It should about this subject only. Jet123 ^{~~My talk page~~} 23:20, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "telling a story". What change did you have in mind? —dgies^t_c 05:52, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

The shakespeare quote seems slightly suspicious. Beotch! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.241.142.68 (talk) 01:20, 17 April 2007 (UTC).

Am I in the minority, or has no one else ever heard "Your mom wears Army shoes"? I've always heard it as "boots"...User:Snyrt

Speaking as a Brit, this article does not describe language I encounter in my home country. So perhaps emphasis should be put on which parts of the English-speaking world this applies. Same goes for dozens; at first I thought that referred to roulette as I'd never heard of it before. EdX20 23:07, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Tried to add the following under Popular Culture but my edit didn't save. I am neither unregistered nor newly-registered so don't know why not. Maybe someone could add it.

"A recent high-profile incident related to mother insults was in the final minutes of the 2006 World Cup foootball (British English)/soccer (American English) final when Zinedine Zidane of the France team was sent off after violently responding with a head-butt after hearing an insult from Italy player Marco Materazzi. Lip-readers were employed by media outlets to determine what was said by Materazzi. [[2]]" EdX20 23:33, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

in my neck of the woods (devon, UK) the insult is so's your mum, eg:

"thats weird." "so's your mum!"

anybody else?

YOUR MOMS. ALL OF YOURS!!!!!!! hahahahahaha <------ hey! whoever rote that, shut up.

why is everyone talking about your mom? that is so stupid and immature man just shut up thats dix man dix

It is inherently sexist to crudely degrade women and to call it humor. This is true in every culture on the planet. Basic humanity calls for respect of other people. All major religions, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, etc (even New Age) call for mutual respect. For this article to have minimal balance (a WK requirement), the fact of sexism must be provided. Rlsheehan, June 14, 2007 (moved from archive page)

Wikipedia:Civility is a mandatory policy and must be followed. More important is that BALANCE be maintained: Wikipedia:Neutral point of view This also is mandatory policy. This article currently reads as if is is just fine to degrade women: a balance point of referencing sexism is needed. Please read the links, any basic book on ethics and religious values, and WP:NPOV. Rlsheehan June 14, 2007

Oh, come on. Its just a Junior High joke. Calm down. --Mackilicious 02:50, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

WP:CIVIL applies to editors, not articles. WP:NPOV says we must represent all views. What sources do you have to indicate anyone besides you believes that your mom jokes are insulting to women?--Chaser - T 03:51, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

You ask for sources: Let's start with Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 from the Bible. In the ten commandments, God tells people to honor thier mothers and fathers. Likewise, the Qur'an says: "....and your parents shall be honoured. As long as one or both of them live, you shall never (even) say to them, "Uff" (the slightest gesture of annoyance), nor shall you shout at them; you shall treat them amicably." (17:23). Filial piety is a cornerstone Confucianism. Yes, honor for mothers is close to a universal human value. Now the burden shifts. You must provide equally authoritative references which claim women should be degraded and mothers should be trashed. WP:NPOV says we must represent all views: Banance is required. Rlsheehan, June 15, 2007

So no sources indicating the jokes are sexist?--Chaser - T 14:50, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

I again call for your sources. What authority says we should degrade women and mothers? Rlsheehan

Yes filial piety is well-supported by references, but you want to make the claim the jokes are inherently sexist, while I'd argue they are an insult-by-proxy and are not really targeting the mother. So you need to provide a source which claims insults like these are sexist. There's no need to accuse Chaser of wanting to degrade women just because they disagree with you. —dgies^t_c 16:00, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

• Okay, one, all "Yo Mamma" jokes are sexist, otherwise they'd be "Yo Pappa" jokes or "Yo Parents" jokes. But they're not. This article is perfectly neutral and accurately depicts the jokes as they are done in popular culture. Two, the Bible is not a real good source because not everyone believes it to be accurate and/or true. Three, Wikipedia is not censored as one can easily tell from articles such as list of sex positions. And fourth, why should we be required to fix a problem that only one individual sees as a problem. Based on consensus alone, the article seems to be fine. Useight 22:06, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

No they are not. They are insults by proxy, they refer to whomever it is believed the target has the closest emotional ties to. So is it sexist to expect American adolescent males to have closer emotional ties to their mothers than to their fathers? Carewolf 14:38, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Yo momma's an insult by proxy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.240.236.8 (talk) 20:44, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

is it just me, or has someone added a veritable landslide of "ya mum" jokes? If it happens further it should be stopped. One or two examples are good, but it's starting to get out of hand. --LastmanSAC 05:19, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Your mom jokes are not sexist. The reason its 'your mom' and not 'your dad' is that a lot of guys in the ghetto don't have a dad or know who their dad is. But everyone has a mom and knows who their mom is. You could say it makes it more hurtful (because it attacks someone who is near and dear) or less hurtful (because saying 'your dad' would remind the person that they do not have a dad.

In any case who cares if a fringe minority of radical feminist thinks its sexist. Such opinions have no place in a wikipedia article. Stick to the facts not your personal interpretations.

--Jon in California 10 September 2007

Proposed Resolution

Yes, sexism is somewhat subjective (although many of these jokes seem egregious to me). The article currently has a sexist bias which requires some balance. I propose a new section titled "Criticism" or "Potentially Offensive" which would be something like this. Rlsheehan, June 16, 2007

Some of this humor has the potential to offend some people

• Some consider sexually degrading humor to be sexist
• Some believe that mothers should be honored. This might be based on the ten commandments of the Bible, similar sections of the Qur'an, or broader aspects of filial piety.

• I don't see the sexist bias you're talking about, you'd need a citation that the jokes are sexually degrading, and the statement "Some consider sexually degrading humor to be sexist" is sort of a useless tautology. —dgies^t_c 17:04, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

Regarding this edit, referring to it as a "crude phrase" violates WP:NPOV, which requires we be neutral in our coverage. Saying that the jokes degrade women is an opinion, and at least requires a source to indicate "some critics say..." or somesuch.--Chaser - T 01:37, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

No, this is not an opinion: this is a universal human value Please read the discussion I initiated on the now archived talk page. WK requires minimal BALANCE. It is OK for people to have an article about sexist jokes, but reference must be made to sexism for balance to exist. Rlsheehan June 14, 2007

You didn't start a discussion. You made a comment in an archive. Anyway, Material that is challenged or likely to be challenged needs a reliable source, so if there isn't one for these assertions, I will remove them.--Chaser - T 02:09, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

In the spirit of your mom jokes I think the following text should be added to the article directly under the more citations needed notification: "Your mom needs more citations." Thank you. Anulith 4/18/2009 BTW Tell your mom I said, "Hi." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Anulith (talk • contribs) 03:19, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

             Too bad its locked :( Crank dat Quan Cosby (talk) 23:53, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

Done. Paul1991 (talk) 13:40, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

Not in the spirit of the wiki. If you've added it, it's already been removed. In the future, note that we try to keep an encyclopedic tone in Wikipedia articles. --Zarel (talk) 11:06, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

Shouldn't we include variations of this, things like "your face should not be seen in public as it violates several health and safty mesures"? BobHiggs (talk) 07:32, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

No, that's not a mother insult, it would belong at insult or The dozens. —dgies^t_c 15:18, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Please cleaup the extra space.70.74.35.144 (talk) 08:34, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

It has always been my impression that the show In Living Color popularized the "your mom" jokes to the general public as its own "genre" of jokes. I believe they had a recurring sketch featuring "The Dozens" and "your mom" jokes. In any case, I'd be interested in what triggered the seemingly increase in popularity of this joke form in the early 1990s. Pythagras (talk) 14:44, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Yo mama joke were very popular in the 80s. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.105.192.2 (talk) 23:55, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually "Your mom/yo mama" taunts were common in the 60's as well. Likely they go back to far, far earlier times. The article does make it sound like a relatively recent phenomenon. Nibios (talk) 16:23, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

In this article, the word "mother" is prominenty used in place of more practical and frequently used terms, like "mom," "momma," or other variations thereof. Would it not be more sensible to use a vocabulary more reflective of the pop culture phenomenon than of proper English usage? Academic decathlete (talk) 11:14, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

it is fine how it is. it references the usage of "your mom" & "yo momma" several times.Estemshorn (talk) 17:58, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm very new to wiki contributions, so please feel free to shout out if I'm asking these questions in the wrong forum.

I wanted to add an entry in the [In Popular Culture ] section about the "Your Mom" sub-joke in the popular XKCD comic XKCD #526. But couldn't because of the semi-protection.

So, - Should this section be the more unprotected one? - How can I contribute the above bit to the current page?

Mataal (talk) 10:23, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't say it's notable enough to be added. Remember, WP isn't an indiscrimate collection of info, and trivia is discouraged. Carl.bunderson (talk) 05:46, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

There is no reason for the small (and excellent) paragraph to be listed in the section on what "your mom" jokes are about. Therefore, I will be moving said paragraph to the "Popular Culture" part of the culture. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Necropirate (talk • contribs) 22:26, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

"Your mom in popular culture" section needs a rename. -- PXK ^T /_C 18:37, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

The Newman and Baddiel joke should be "That's your mum that is"?

Cheers

Phil —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.81.254.50 (talk) 16:54, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

no —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.234.90.204 (talk) 18:17, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

The book by anthropologist Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, states that it was a common occurrence on Easter Island during the starvation and cannibalism era before the Spanish arrived and after the collapse of their civilization, for an individual to tease another saying, "I ate your mother." Some actually just had. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Northtexasfossilguy (talk • contribs) 21:18, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

I propose this article be deleted. --TheEvilNoob (talk) 17:18, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

If you want to nominate the article for deletion, you can do so at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. However, it is unlikely that the community will agree with you. Contrary to your suggestion, the article is clearly notable and has several citations of reliable sources. —Caesura^(t) 21:00, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to point out that your mother is very notable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sparticus (talk • contribs) 20:29, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Just wanted to suggest the addition of an external link relating to Yo Mama Jokes - the "Yo Mama Jokes Galore" Website:

• Yo Mama Jokes Galore - An Extensive Collection of Yo Mama Jokes.

Jayflnt (talk) 04:51, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, their was a show on MTV which pitted people aginst others in a verbal "Yo Momma" (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha(Laugh truncated. --Kizor) that show is funny) jokes battle.This show is now canceled. For obvious reasons. preys on the fact that people commonly love and revere their mothers, making the insult particularly and globally offensive. I question that "globally". I'm from Germany, and here mother insults have only recently (<20 years) made it into popular culture due to immigration and hip-hop culture. People with a Northern European background tend to see them as more weird/funny than actually insulting. Which of course doesn't mean that we don't love our mothers, we may just be more relaxed about it. I think it is a cultural thing, comparable to the cultural preference for scatological, sexual or religious swearing. The phenomenon of mother insults is obviously related to gender, family and filial piety, which are not (merely) biological, but cultural traits, thus not globally identical. My impression is that it's correlated with patriarchal societies and also religion, such as Islam and Catholicism.--87.162.26.224 08:20, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Readers of the Bible and Qur'an as well as those who follow the Eastern concept of filial piety believe that mothers should be honored, not crudely insulted. If this is not "global", please let me know what is. Rlsheehan August 7, 2007

In Russian, "your mother" is an expletive on its own when in the accusative case. My former supervisor, a Bosnian Serb, used to swear by "picku materu", and I gather that this not uncommon in most Slavic languages. 129.206.90.2 (talk) 11:45, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

This article should really include some examples from languages other than English... If there are any Serbian/Croatian speakers here, I bet "jebem ti majku" springs to mind at the sight of the article. :D It would be really interesting to know how much these insults are popular in different languages. So if anyone reads this and thinks of some uses in his own language and their popularity...write it down here and when we have something we'll improve the article. :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cptukbo (talk • contribs) 17:17, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Shouldn't this article be changed to "your mom" joke?????Estemshorn (talk) 18:01, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

The title of this article appears to be original research. I'm not aware of any reputable source that calls it "mother insult". Chubbles (talk) 20:55, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

The first source, "THE STAND UP COMEDIAN'S RESPONSE TO THE HECKLER", says "insults to parents". The second, "Ritualized Verbal Insult in White High School Culture" (1965), says "defamatory insults about [his] family" and "sexual misdeeds of the opponent's mother" on the free first page sample on the website. The third, "The mother of all insults", on guardian.co.uk, uses "mother insult." None contain the phrase "maternal insult". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.40.252.23 (talk) 08:35, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

I agree, its present location isn't ideal; however, I'm not sure where to move it to. Carl.bunderson (talk) 03:32, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

It is difficult to know what to change it to, particularly as "mom" and "momma" are so specifically American. In Britain it's "mum", and "your" is frequently spelt "yer" (in fact there is a redirect to this page to accommodate this). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.254.146.20 (talk) 15:56, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

I notice that the title of this article was recently changed to 'Yo Mamma Joke', without much discussion.

A cursory Google search reveals roughly:

• "yo mama" = 1,310,000 results http://www.google.com/search?q=%22yo+mama%22
• "yo mamma" = 373,000 results http://www.google.com/search?q=%22yo+mamma%22
• "yo momma" = 173,000 results http://www.google.com/search?q=%22yo+momma%22

                A list of yo mamma jokes

- yo mama so fat that when she stepped on the scale it said to be continued! - yo mama so fat that when you cut her gravy comes out! - yo mama so fat that when she put on her yellow jacket, everyone started yelling "TAXI!!". - yo mama so fat that she is fat! - yo mama so fat that we ran around her twice and got lost! - yo mama so ugly when she looked out the window she got arrested for mooning! - yo mama so stupid she tripped over a cordless phone! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.81.71.150 (talk) 14:28, 1 December 2010 (UTC) I believe that's good reason to rename the article to 'Yo mama joke' or '"Yo mama" joke' or some variation thereof. Thoughts? --Zarel (talk) 00:38, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Change it back. "Mother insult" is broader and more professional in tone. The "Mamma" and "Joke" first letter caps also do not conform to the MOS. --Anonymous 00:51, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Too late; already did. --Zarel (talk) 11:07, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

"Your mum" gives 2,390,000 results (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22your+mum%22). I still think "mother" is better. I would sign this but it won't let me when I'm logged in. 80.254.146.20 (talk) 16:01, 4 May 2010 (UTC)awsome show1!!!!!!!

{{editsemiprotected}}

for the first instance of "example needed" you can refer to the skit "ya moms" from the album wu-massacre by ghostface killah, method man, and raekwon the chef. a link to the skit is http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Ya+Moms+Skit+/2ImYQD and grooveshark.com does pay the labels money for the songs being played. this is a good example because there is laughter in the background. Ack mcglumphy (talk) 12:20, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Not done:Possibly copyvio. SpigotMap 13:12, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

He he Micheal Jackson was here!!! At the bottom of the article, it talks about a banned user... shouldn't this be removed? Evl007 (talk) 07:12, 29 May 2010 (UTC) ping -a -t wiki.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.215.159.10 (talk) 15:40, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

I don't think this qualifies as an accurate source of information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.109.174.205 (talk) 06:46, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

The phrase your momma wears combat boots isn't very insulting lacks historical perspective it used to mean, that your mother was so poor, that she whor'd her self out for, clothing, to soldiers. It should read like this, such as the old, currently harmless In the United States, insult your mother wears combat boots.

                   -Peter Hilson  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.34.204.236 (talk) 07:27, 14 February 2011 (UTC) 

Shouldn't we have a Lists of Maternal Insults page? I can start on it. Please let me know and I will create an account. --66.44.76.82 (talk) 11:33, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Um, no. There are plenty of lists of Yo Momma jokes on the Internet. Wikipedia is not a joke repository. WTF? (talk) 14:44, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

Maybe change "playing the dozens" to "playing the Dozens" (so, not link "playing", and "Dozens" with a capital). --82.171.13.139 (talk) 18:25, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Also, "The insult [...] should be used with caution." seems too subjective to me. --82.171.13.139 (talk) 18:29, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Many people know the joke that is "your mom". It is very offensive to some people while to others, it can be very funny. Your mom can also be a good way to start a friend ship, or bad. The person might be annoyed and say "my mom is dead" to make you look bad. Then naturally you would say "oh I am so sorry!" The issue may be very awkward. I encourage you to not say "your mom" to a stranger, so that way you do not embarrass yourself. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.38.48.110 (talk) 20:53, 21 April 2012 (UTC) ILIKDICK — Preceding unsigned comment added by FattysInParis55 (talk • contribs) 03:31, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Here is an interesting fact about Yo Momma jokes that you should put on this page. An ancient Babylon tablet with what appear to be the worlds oldest jokes on it contains what might be a Yo Momma joke. But the tablet is damaged so the only remaning piece of the joke is; ...of you'r mother who has intercorse with her. Who/What is it?. The tablet was too damaged for the answer to be translated. You can read the full story here--109.79.58.113 (talk) 21:04, 18 December 2012 (UTC) ALSO KNOWN AS YOUR MUM — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.28.208.70 (talk) 22:13, 18 December 2012 (UTC) chicken butt you likew it!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.195.222.43 (talk) 23:54, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

This is going to sound like a piss-take, but it's a serious point: "Maternal insult" is pseudo-academic and not in general use by anyone... perhaps the page should be moved to Your mother joke, Yo mama joke or Your mum?Zythe (talk) 17:09, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Yo mama jokes started out as insults (probably) for when people got into verbal fights one would think once they say that joke the other person would cry, I beg to differ. They would go all out on that person with the meanest nastiest yo mama joke they could think of like"yo mama so stupid that she put newspapers in front of her kids and said"were watching paper view"" That was the breaking point the other kid would punch the other kid in the mouth etc

Don't use yo mama jokes in a fight.... Or you will get punched by your mom. Like your mom. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.198.78.174 (talk) 02:09, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Your mama is a sheep dog. Yo momma so fat when she jumped into the ocean the whales started singing "We are family even though you are fatter than me." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbraydenn (talk • contribs) 15:39, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Das mean — Preceding unsigned comment added by Digitalbowtie (talk • contribs) 14:37, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Oh ya he right das just meeeann  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.96.219.249 (talk) 23:12, 29 October 2013 (UTC) 

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I would like to edit this piece of writing because I have many more reasons of why it is a maternal insult. I would love if you could be so kind and give me permission. Again thank you for reading this and have a good day Baby54321 (talk) 23:40, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

Not done: It is not possible for individual users to be granted permission to edit a semi-protected article. You can do one of the following:

• You will be able to edit this article without restriction four days after account registration if you make at least 10 constructive edits to other articles.
• You can request the article be unprotected at this page. To do this, you need to provide a valid rationale that refutes the original reason for protection.
• You can provide a specific request to edit the article in "change X to Y" format on this talk page and an editor who is not blocked from editing the article will determine if the requested edit is appropriate.

Thanks, --ElHef (Meep?) 00:38, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Really? What? It has two citations from William Shakespeare right there. Is someone outraged about maternal jokes in his Wikipedia in his internet? Awkward. Maternal jokes are as old as the English language. Deal with it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.194.246.148 (talk) 21:14, 27 April 2014 (UTC)

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Add the following bullet to the "In Popular Culture" section:

• On websites with discussion threads, like reddit, it is convention for commenters to insult OP's mom (Original Poster's mother).

66bananasandagrape (talk) 20:17, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

Not done: Not going to happen. WP:ORIGINAL will do as a reason --Drowninginlimbo (talk) 20:31, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

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I have a good source for Maternal Insult jokes. http://www.jokes4us.com/yomamajokes/yomamasodirtyjokes.html I looked it up and it seemed legit... like your mom xD ... Sorry i had to.HaruhiChan33 (talk) 03:18, 12 March 2015 (UTC) HaruhiChan33 (talk) 03:18, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

 Not done as you have not requested a change. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. --I am k6ka ^{Talk to me!} _{See what I have done} 03:38, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

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The song "Ya Mum" is sung by Jender Confused Genny Spartan11484 (talk) 21:30, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. --I am k6ka ^{Talk to me!} _{See what I have done} 01:37, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

If we're considering usages then I'd like to point out The Pharcyde produced a song called "Ya Mama". This could go into the Examples section. if we think this is relevant. - WK 198.96.34.221 (talk) 03:28, 12 May 2016 (UTC)

Ncsuandrew12 (talk) 20:39, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

The Joram/Jehu "historic example" from the Bible should probably either be removed, or amended to note that Jehu's statement alludes to actual actions taken by Jezebel ( the slaughter of "the Lord's prophets" in 1 Kings 18:4,^[1] hosting the prophets of Baal as mentioned in 1 Kings 18:19,^[2] threatening Elijah the prophet in 1 Kings 19:2,^[3] and her role in the defamation and murder of Naboth in 1 Kings 21^[4]). In fact, Jezebel is arguably the most villainous portrayal of a woman in the Bible (example comparisons: Potiphar's wife,^[5] Solomon's wives,^[6][7] and Sapphira in the New Testament^[8]).

Also note that 2 Kings 3^[9] (the account of Joram becoming king) refers to the sins of "his father and mother" as being idol-worship (specifically, Baal; also, Jeroboam's calves). Idolatry (especially when practiced by Israel as a whole) is frequently referred to as "harlotry" or "adultery" in the historical books and prophetic books of the Old Testament.

I point this out because maternal insults typically have little or no basis in fact (and even if they did, the speaker usually has no knowledge of this), which is inconsistent with the Joram/Jehu example. Also, from the page:

The phrase is usually not literally meant as a direct insult to a person's mother, but is supposed to describe a type of imaginative fantasy person with the said characteristics.

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Modern Examples

Your mother is... ↓

--So fat that...

-When she sat on An I-pod she turned it into an I-Pad! -She occupies ALL of wall street! -She is on both sides of the family! -When she is on an elevator, it HAS to go down! -I took a photo of her 3 months ago and it's STILL printing! -She walked in front of me while I was watching TV, and 3 episodes have gone by before I started watching again! -The EMPIRE STATE BUILDING has less square footage!

--So ugly that...

-She made one direction turn around! -Medusa is jealous! -when she tried to join an ugly contest, they said "Sorry, no professionals"! -She made an onion cry!

--So stupid that...

-She climbed a glass wall to see the other side! -She climbed Mountain Dew! -When she muggs people, she throws a cup at them! HyperboleIsTheBestThingEVA (talk) 23:47, 12 November 2016 (UTC)

Not done per WP:IINFO, WP:GNG... examples are uncited. It's also unclear how this adds to the article at this point — Andy W. (talk) 08:14, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

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In some places you can be arrested for saying your mom Pzp999 (talk) 19:03, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ‑‑ElHef (Meep?) 19:23, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

This concept is portrayed by implication as being something common to English speakers when it is not. I believe that it is a latin cultural phenomenon in America (USA). You need to show that it has virtually no natural resonanace in the UK. I suspect that this cultural hegemony is common in Wikipedia.

ftlpope — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ftlpope (talk • contribs) 14:25, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

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65.121.54.50 (talk) 16:41, 18 April 2019 (UTC) I work at a science respiration center and i need to edit this, all information here is incorrect

 Not done: requests for decreases to the page protection level should be directed to the protecting admin or to Wikipedia:Requests for page protection if the protecting admin is not active or has declined the request. - FlightTime (open channel) 16:42, 18 April 2019 (UTC)

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The joe momma insult has been featured on Meme Review; a popular series made by ·§§§§Pewdiepie§§§§§§§§ THEYEETINGMAN23 (talk) 22:18, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

 Not done. It's not clear what changes you want to make. –Deacon Vorbis (carbon • videos) 00:51, 10 November 2019 (UTC)

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect User:Imaginary Boob. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Hog Farm (talk) 04:32, 9 February 2020 (UTC)

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Your Dad. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Hog Farm (talk) 04:35, 9 February 2020 (UTC)

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Your dad. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Hog Farm (talk) 04:35, 9 February 2020 (UTC)

I'm not able to verify that headline. The earliest reference I can find is from the book Andrew Jackson (1966, by Robert V. Remini who seems respectable; a preview of a newer edition of this book is what is currently cited in the article), and then several other books from 1968 that say similar things (but aren't fully consistent with each other). I couldn't find any contemporary sources searching either "General Jackson's Mother" or "was a common prostitute". Perhaps the relevant newspaper just isn't digitized on archive.org, but none of the books I found cite a specific date either, so I can't verify it that way... I also couldn't find a newspaper with the exact name "Cincinnati Gazette", though it looks like there is a The Daily Cincinnati Gazette in 1828 (which archives seem to be calling Cincinnati Daily Gazette, which LOC says was a later name). (Pings: @DesertPipeline and DesertPipeline) --Pokechu22 (talk) 06:25, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you User:Pokechu22. Should it be removed from the article then? DesertPipeline (talk) 06:31, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

I'm not sure. I think there's a chance it was an actual headline, and the source does seem reputable. Someone who knows more about history might be able to find it in a database/library I don't know about/don't have access to. So I don't think it's worth removing just yet. --Pokechu22 (talk) 06:42, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

What made me tag it was the three exclamation marks – that seems very strange to me. Then again, even nowadays there are examples of strange and unprofessional newspaper headlines, so perhaps it is real. Thank you again for your help anyway! DesertPipeline (talk) 06:51, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

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Yo mama should be of no offense to anybody since it is a simple joke. 68.111.140.72 (talk) 23:34, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit semi-protected}} template. MadGuy7023 (talk) 00:00, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

The French graffiti pictured is actually a pun (or a spelling mistake) and reads "go fuck your mayor", not "go fuck your mother". Is it worth editing the caption to point this out? Jean-de-Nivelle (talk) 14:19, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

"Maternal insult" surely isn't WP:COMMONNAME. I think "Your mom" joke would be a better title, per precedent like dick joke. (Actually, looking at the sources, "yo momma" joke and the like seem to be common, so maybe that.)

I will boldly move this in a week if there is no opposition. CharredShorthand (talk) 08:37, 7 January 2023 (UTC)

Support Yeah, "Yo mamma" joke seems like a way more common way of referring to it! Someone-123-321 (talk) 02:14, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

But that’s only one kind of a maternal insult…the only body section of this article is full of historical kinds of maternal insults which are not in the same format. Umimmak (talk) 04:24, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

@Umimmak I think one can justifiably interpret "yo mama" joke to be fairly broad, not only jokes in the "yo mama so x she x" format. As per one of the article's sources, [3].

But have you any suggestions for improvements? I just think "maternal insult" is quite ridiculous and obscure. CharredShorthand (talk) 04:34, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

Also, I moved it after seeing the first "support", which now I think perhaps I ought not to have - but we can move it again if necessary. CharredShorthand (talk) 04:35, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

Well like I said “yo mama” is specific to the dozens, or at the very least the contemporary anglosphere. I think part of this will depend on what the sources say/cover; if there’s enough specifically about the format “yo mama”, then that can be its own article with a WP:SUMMARY in a larger article about maternal insults, but again as right now the article is half about other formats for this sort of insult. Umimmak (talk) 06:12, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

My point is that "yo mama joke" can encapsulate insults about mothers that do not actually have the specific phrase "yo mama", and that this is significantly better than titling the article "maternal insult" - a phrase which barely any sources use, and which I suspect got its primary origin from Wikipedia when some editor moved this page from "Mother insult" to "Maternal insult" on grammatical grounds.

"Maternal insult" is simply not the WP:COMMONNAME. CharredShorthand (talk) 08:45, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

I agree with this change, or a change in general. "Maternal Insult" suggests they're only insults. Whereas We're seeing more "compliment" jokes in today's era; yo mama so nice, yo mama so strong, yo mama so smart etc. Even products like Alexa will reply with a "yo mama so nice" joke if you ask the device to give you a "yo mama joke". ZackJames90 (talk) 04:40, 15 January 2023 (UTC)

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Change the title of the article "'Yo Mama' Joke" to "Maternal Insult" because it's more broad and the term is more accurate. Maternalinsult69 (talk) 14:56, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: see above Cannolis (talk) 15:39, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

Instead of going back and forth about the opening image (which arguably has WP:BLP violation written all over it six ways to Sunday - "you take Roosevelt down to Des Plaines Avenue, turn right..."), let's politely ask Xkcd, as a Wikipedian, to consider creating the opening image. A request like this shouldn't be done often or even never, but in this case, given that a cartoon/commentary panel would represent the "Yo mama" joke to the English-speaking world, a WP:IAR exception seems in play because of the fun factor. If he and editors agree, we can use one that he really loves or pick from a few that he likes a lot. What do page editors think? Randy Kryn (talk) 03:14, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

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I want to add a section on the use of Yo Mama Jokes in popular media. Link to other Wikipedia articles like the Yo Mama TV show, comedians, movies and famous YouTubers who have used yo mama jokes. Here is the edit below:

"Yo Mama" jokes, characterized by their humorous or insulting references to a person's mother, have been featured in a variety of media formats over the years​1​. Their playful or derogatory nature has made them a staple in comedic dialogues, often utilized to evoke laughter or shock from the audience.

Television Yo Momma TV Show: A television show titled "Yo Momma" aired in the United States, where participants would engage in battles of wits using their best "Yo Mama" jokes. Hosted by Wilmer Valderrama, along with Sam Sarpong (Seasons 1 and 2), Jason Everhart, and Destiny Lightsy, the show was produced from April 2006 to December 2007. It frequently featured guest appearances from rappers and utilized "yo mama" jokes as a central theme of the show​. ^[1]

Movies Yo Mama Jokes in Films: Movies have also seen the incorporation of "Yo Mama" jokes, utilized as punchlines or comedic dialogues between characters. For instance, in the movie "White Men Can't Jump," characters exchange "Yo Mama" jokes​​. Other movies like "The Nutty Professor" (1996) have featured "Yo Mama" jokes as part of the comedic interaction between characters​.^[2]

Online Media Yo Mama YouTube Series: The online sphere has also witnessed the popularity of "Yo Mama" jokes through a comedy YouTube series titled "Yo Mama." Hosted by cartoon protagonist Brody Foxx, the series focused mainly on "Yo Mama" jokes, gaining a significant social media presence, especially starting from April 2020.^[3]

Stand-up Comedy and Music Stand-up Comedy: Renowned comedian Richard Pryor incorporated "Yo Mama" jokes in some of his stand-up routines, contributing to the jokes' popularity.^[4] Sakshi.shah123 (talk) 22:05, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

@Sakshi.shah123: Thank you for your contribution. I have some clarification questions/comments before I can post the edit.

Firstly, in what position of the article would you like this new section to be? Please state between which sections you want this edit to be inserted.

Secondly, some of your sources do not meet WP:RS or WP:V requirements. Your first source is a Wikipedia page, which is almost always not allowed per WP:CIRCULAR. Your third source contains user generated content (since at the time of this comment the page states that it currently being evaluated by the site's editorial team), which is also not allowed per WP:UGC. As a result, I cannot include the paragraphs supported by those two sources.

Finally, there are some formatting issues. You haven't provided a section title, so please write one in your reply. The way you use colons (as in using them to indicate a description of the paragraph) is also uncommon on Wikipedia. I could change the descriptions into subheaders, but I don't think that is necessary, so I'll just get rid of them when adding the edit (and possibly combine a few paragraphs, considering their length). Liu1126 (talk) 21:37, 20 October 2023 (UTC)

 Partly done: I have implemented the acceptable content, as detailed in my comment. If you want to provide reliable sources for the other information, you may reopen this edit request. Liu1126 (talk) 09:09, 25 October 2023 (UTC)