View source for Motherfucker

{{short description|English-language vulgarism}}
{{Other uses}}
{{redirect|Motherfuck|the song|Motherfuck (song)}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox profanity
| title =
| type = [[vulgarism]]
| image = 2011 Freedom of speech sign at protest.jpg
| alt = A man is holding a sign that reads "Freedom of speech, motherfuckers!"
| caption = [[Freedom of speech]] sign that uses the term held by a demonstrator at a protest in [[San Francisco|San Francisco, California]]
| part_of_speech = [[Compound noun]]
| etymology = Compound of the terms ''[[mother]]'' and ''[[fucker]]''<ref name="oed">{{cite encyclopedia |date=December 2002 |title=motherfucker, n. meanings, etymology and more |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/motherfucker_n?tl=true|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] (OED) |location= |publisher= |access-date=2025-04-27}}</ref>
| pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|m|ʌ|ð|ər|f|ʌ|k|ər}}<ref name="oed"/><br>{{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|m|ʌ|ð|ə|ˌ|f|ʌ|k|ə}}<ref name="oed"/>
| literal = A person who has [[incest]] with his mother
| figurative = A person who is mean, despicable or vicious<br>Any particularly difficult or frustrating situation
}}
'''''Motherfucker''''' ({{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|m|ʌ|ð|ər|f|ʌ|k|ər|audio=en-us-motherfucker.ogg}}; {{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|m|ʌ|ð|ə|ˌ|f|ʌ|k|ə|audio=en-uk-motherfucker.ogg}}), sometimes abbreviated as '''''mofo''''', '''''mf''''', or '''''mf'er''''', is an English-language [[vulgarism]]. It is a form of the [[profanity]] ''[[fuck]]''. In common usage, it is rarely used to refer to one person having intercourse with a woman who is a mother. Rather, the word usually refers to a mean, despicable, or vicious person; or any particularly difficult or frustrating situation. Conversely, it can be used positively, as a term of admiration, as in the term ''[[Wiktionary:badass|badass]] motherfucker'' ({{Abbreviation|BAMF|Badass Motherfucker}}), meaning a fearless and confident person.

== Variants ==
Like many widely used offensive terms, ''motherfucker'' has a large list of [[minced oath]]s. ''Motherhumper'', ''motherfugger'', ''mother f'er'', ''mothersucker'', ''mothertrucker'', ''motherfreaker'', ''motherlover'', ''mofo'', ''fothermucker'', ''monkey-fighting'',<ref>{{Citation |title=Snakes on a Plane - The TV Edit - The famous line | date=15 April 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4t6zNZ-b0A |language=en |access-date=2023-01-08}}</ref> ''motherflower'', ''mother flipper'', ''motherkisser'', ''motherfricker'', and many more are sometimes used in polite company or to avoid censorship. The participle ''motherfucking'' is often used as an emphatic, in the same way as the less strong ''fucking''. The verb ''to motherfuck'' also exists, although it is less common. Conversely, when paired with an adjective, it can become a term denoting such things as originality and [[masculinity]], as in the related phrase "badass motherfucker." Use of the term as a compliment is frequent in the jazz community; for example, when [[Miles Davis]] addressed his future percussionist [[Mino Cinelu]]: "Miles...grabbed his arm and said, 'You're a motherfucker.' Cinelu thanked Miles for the compliment."<ref>{{cite book|last=Cole|first=George|title=The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis, 1980–1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5r-mzXMJfEC&pg=PA90|access-date=10 March 2013|year=2007|publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]]|isbn=9780472032600|page=90}}</ref>

== History and popular culture ==
The word dates back at least to the late 19th century.  In an 1889 Texas murder case, a witness testified that the victim had called the defendant a "God damned mother-f—king<!--censored in original-->, bastardly son-of-a-bitch" shortly before his death.<ref>
{{cite court
|litigants=M. H. Levy v. State
|vol=28
|reporter=Tex. Crim.
|opinion=3208
|pinpoint=206
|court=Tex. Crim. App.
|date=1889-11-13
|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112103886224?urlappend=%3Bseq=254
|access-date=2018-04-12
|quote=}}</ref><ref name=FW /> A later Texas court opinion from 1897 prints the word "mother-fucking" in full.<ref>{{cite court
|litigants=John H. Fitzpatrick v. State
|vol=37
|reporter=Tex. Crim.
|opinion=1159
|pinpoint=22
|court=Tex. Crim. App.
|date=1897-01-13
|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924062060250?urlappend=%3Bseq=49
|access-date=2018-04-12
|quote=The deceased called the defendant a mother-fucking son-of-a-bitch just preceding the fatal shot}}</ref><ref name="FW">{{cite web|last=Wickman|first=Forrest|date=2013-02-14|title="Motherfucker" etymology and origins: How it became badass to be a mofo|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/02/14/_motherfucker_etymology_and_origins_how_it_became_badass_to_be_a_mofo.html|access-date=2016-11-03|website=[[Slate.com]]}}</ref> In 1917 a U.S. soldier called his draft board ''"You low-down Mother Fuckers"'' in a letter.<ref>{{cite book|title=Freedom Struggles|author=Adriane Danette Lentz-Smith|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|edition=Reprint|date=September 2, 2011|isbn=978-0674062054}}</ref>

In literature, [[Norman Mailer]] uses it occasionally, disguised as ''motherfugger'', in his 1948 novel ''[[The Naked and the Dead]]'',<ref name=jon>{{cite web |last=Buschel |first=Bruce |url=http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/dear-jon-stewart-thanks-for-the-ride-motherfucker-1712077045 |title=Dear Jon Stewart: Thanks For The Ride, Motherfucker |website=Theconcourse.deadspin.com |date=23 June 2015 |access-date=2016-11-03 |archive-date=16 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616062031/http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/dear-jon-stewart-thanks-for-the-ride-motherfucker-1712077045 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and used it in full in his 1967 novel ''[[Why Are We in Vietnam?]]''.<ref name=FW/> It appears twice in [[James Purdy]]'s 1956 novella ''63: Dream Palace''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Color of darkness; eleven stories and a novella |url=https://archive.org/details/colorofdarknesse00purd/page/192/mode/2up |url-access=limited |first=James |last=Purdy |location=New York |publisher=New Directions |year=1957 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/colorofdarknesse00purd/page/n174 193], 195}}</ref> In [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s novel ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'' the word is used by one of the soldiers in the story – leading to the novel being often [[List of most commonly challenged books in the United States|challenged]] in libraries and schools. Vonnegut joked in a speech, published in the collection ''[[Fates Worse Than Death]]'', that "Ever since that word was published, way back in 1969, children have been attempting to have intercourse with their mothers. When it will stop no one knows."<ref name="vonnegut">{{cite book|last=Vonnegut|first=Kurt|title=Fates Worse Than Death|year=1992|publisher=[[Berkeley Books]]|location=New York|isbn=0-425-13406-7|page=76}}</ref>

The words "mother for you" or "mother fuyer", as [[minced oath]]s for "motherfucker", were used in [[blues]] and [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] records from the 1930s. A few examples include [[Memphis Minnie]]'s "Dirty Mother For You" (1935), [[Roosevelt Sykes]]' "Dirty Mother For You" (1936), and [[Red Nelson (musician)|Dirty Red]]'s "[[Mother Fuyer]]" (1947). The singer [[Stick McGhee]], whose recording of "Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" was a hit in 1949, claimed that he had originally heard the song as "Drinking Wine, Motherfucker". Later, [[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]] had a hit in 1977 with "A Real Mother For Ya".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xSErq0ssG74C&dq=%22Dirty+Mother+Fuyer%22&pg=PT146  Peter Silverton, ''Filthy English: The How, Why, When And What Of Everyday Swearing''], Portobello Books, 2011</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YgyZfOmg9EkC&q=The+Compleat+Motherfucker  Jim Dawson, ''The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words''], ReadHowYouWant.com, 2011, p. 135</ref>

In popular music, the first mainstream [[rock music|rock]] release to include the word was the 1969 album ''[[Kick Out the Jams]]'' by [[MC5]]. The title track, a live recording, is introduced by vocalist [[Rob Tyner]] shouting "And right now. right now. right now it's time to. kick out the jams, motherfuckers!". This was quickly pulled from stores, and an edited version was released with the words "brothers and sisters" overdubbed on the offending word. At about the same time, the [[Jefferson Airplane]] released the album ''[[Volunteers (Jefferson Airplane album)|Volunteers]]'', the opening track of which, "We Can Be Together", included the line "[[Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers|up against the wall, motherfucker]]", a popular catch phrase among radical groups at the time. This attracted less attention. The word was strongly implied, but not said explicitly, in [[Isaac Hayes]]' huge 1971 hit song "[[Theme from Shaft]]". [[Arlo Guthrie]]'s 1967 piece "[[Alice's Restaurant]]" used a minced version, "mother rapers."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml |title=Archived copy |website=Arlo.net |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018142203/http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml |archive-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The band [[Self (band)|Self]] used the word strongly in their 2001 hit single "[[Trunk Fulla Amps]]" from their 2000 album ''[[Gizmodgery]]'', in which the track appears twice; appearing normally once uncensored, and as the final track on the album, with its swears replaced with comedic noises. Though rarely broadcast in the US, the word has since become common in popular music, particularly in [[hip hop music|hip hop]].

The word appears in [[George Carlin]]'s ''[[Seven dirty words|Seven Words You Can't Say on Television]]''. In one HBO special, he comments that at one point, someone asked him to remove it, since, as a derivative of the word "[[fuck]]", it constituted a duplication.<ref name="carlin">{{cite video| people = [[George Carlin|Carlin, George]]| title = On Location: George Carlin at Phoenix| medium = DVD| publisher = HBO Home Video|date=1978 }}</ref> He later added it back, claiming that the bit's rhythm does not work without it.<ref name="carlin"/>

The word has become something of a catchphrase for actor [[Samuel L. Jackson]], who frequently utters the word in some films.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Jensen|first=Jeff|date=4 August 2006|title=Kicking Asp|url=https://ew.com/article/2006/07/28/snakes-plane-inside-summers-riskiest-thrill-ride/|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070118063046/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1219727,00.html|access-date=21 June 2010|url-status=live|archive-date=18 January 2007}}</ref> His use of the word helped him overcome a lifelong [[stuttering]] problem.<ref name="SLJ_mofo">{{cite news|title=Samuel L. Jackson Needs Certain Swear Word To Stop His Stutter.|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/samuel-l-jackson-stutter-swear_n_3389403.html|access-date=6 June 2013|newspaper=[[Huffington Post]]|date=5 June 2013}}</ref>

== Literature ==
* ''The {{Sic|hide=y|1=Compleat}} Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words'' by [[Jim Dawson]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=Jim|title=The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words|year=2009|publisher=[[Feral House]]|location=[[Los Angeles]], [[California]], United States|isbn=978-1-932595-41-3|author-link=Jim Dawson}}</ref> is a history of the word in [[African American culture|black culture]] and in [[American literature]], film, comedy and music.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Linguistics}}
* [[Parental incest|Incest]]
* [[Maternal insult]]
* [[Grass Mud Horse]] (word play on Chinese equivalent)
* [[Mat (Russian profanity)]]
* [[Madarchod]]
* [[Seven dirty words]]
* [[Mofo (disambiguation)|Mofo]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wiktionary|BAMF}}
{{wiktionary|motherfucker}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Wikipedia Article - Motherfucker.wav|date=2018-10-31}}

{{Sexual slang}}
{{Incest}}

[[Category:Pejorative terms for men]]
[[Category:English profanity]]
[[Category:Sexual slang]]
[[Category:Incest]]