subs. (old).—1. A bawd. Also MOTHER-ABBESS, MOTHER MIDNIGHT, and MOTHER DAMNABLE. See ABBESS.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. MOTHER, or THE MOTHER. A bawd. MOTHER ABBESS: the same.
2. (common).—A familiar mode of address.
1647. FLETCHER, The Chances, i. 8. Good MOTHER.
1847. C. BRONTË, Jane Eyre, XIX. But, MOTHER, I did not come to hear Mr. Rochester’s fortune: I came to hear my own.
3. (old colloquial).—Hysteria.
1605. SHAKESPEARE, King Lear, ii. 4, 56. O, how this MOTHER swells up toward my heart.
1662. MIDDLETON, The Mayor of Quinborough [DYCE (1840), i. 186]. I’m so troubled with the MOTHER too.
1662. Rump Songs, i. 161.
| From damnable Members, and fits of the MOTHER, | |
| Good Lord, deliver us. |
DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW YOU’RE OUT? phr. (common).—A derisive street catch-phrase. See DOES.
1836. R. H. BARHAM, The Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ He smiled and said, ‘Sir, DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW THAT YOU ARE OUT?’
1840. Sporting Review, III. 2. Has he no friends to look after him? ‘DOES HIS MOTHER KNOW HE’S OUT?’
1841. Punch, i. p. 6, col. 2, ‘Songs for the Sentimental.’
| In this darkling hour of doubt … | |
| DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW YOU’RE OUT? |
1844. Puck, 134.
| Tailors or cobblers, both, I trow, | |
| From board or stall ye roam, | |
| And DO YOUR ANXIOUS MOTHERS KNOW | |
| THAT YE ARE OUT? Go home! |
1895. Chatham & Rochester News, ‘Political News.’ … A Voice. DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW YOU’RE OUT? Ald. Davies. Yes! and next week she’ll know that I’m in as well.
HAS YOUR MOTHER SOLD HER MANGLE? phr. (streets’).—A catch-phrase: see DOES.
TEACH YOUR MOTHER (or GRANDMOTHER) TO ROAST (or SUCK) EGGS, verb. phr. (common).—A derisive retort upon a piece of information or an offer of help. Fr. les oisons veulent mener les oies paître = the goslings want to drive the geese to pasture.
1670. RAY, Proverbs [BOHN (1893), 7]. Teach your father to get children.
HE’LL BE A MAN BEFORE HIS MOTHER, phr. (common).—A derisive retort.
