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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007what the phrase" your mother wears army boots" means?
hi, everyone, could you tell me the meaning of the following prase "your mother wears army boots" ? When I read a novel, I meet it.As you know, i am not a native english speaker. thank you. > hi, everyone, could you tell me the meaning of the following prase > "your mother wears army boots" ? When I read a novel, I meet it.As you > know, i am not a native english speaker. > thank you. Its a taunt about how poor one was. Army boots were cheap and in good supply after WWII. Nobody uses it anymore except for comedic purposes. > Its a taunt about how poor one was. Army boots were cheap and in good supply > after WWII. Nobody uses it anymore except for comedic purposes. Sam Clements says there is a 1956 usage of record ("shoes" instead of "boots"), and that the phrase probably got started during WWII: http://p211.ezboard.com/mother-wears-army-boots/fwordoriginsorgfrm2.showMessage? topicID=288.topic [excerpt:] samclem (3/6/02 6:10 am) your mother "Your mother" was a not-uncommon phrase starting about 1900 and used as an insult, especially by kids. The addition of boots of various descriptions can be cited from 1956, specifically "your mother wears army shoes." Probably originated during WWII. [end excerpt] Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego >> Its a taunt about how poor one was. Army boots were cheap and in good supply >> after WWII. Nobody uses it anymore except for comedic purposes. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Probably originated during WWII. [end excerpt] "Boots" appears to date only to the late 1970s. Google Books turns up two hits before 1980 (Arthur Roth's 1976_The Secret Lover of Elmtree_ and Ted Tally's 1978 _Hooters_). It first shows up in the _New York Times_ in August, 1978 and in the _Los Angeles Times_ in March, 1975. With "shoes" I can get it back to 1967: The New Left turned out to picket George Wallace when he arrived for a rally at the American Legion Hall here the other day, and one of the handpainted placards declared: "Wallace's mother wears Army shoes." [_NY Times_, 12/12/1967] Interestingly, there's a 1961 episode of _Dobie Gillis_ entitled "Aah Yer Fadder Wears Army Shoes" in which "Dobie tries to impress a WAC by telling her his father is a war hero." [_LA Times_, 5/28/1961] I'm almost positive that the line (as "army shoes", "army boots", or perhaps "combat boots") was popularized by Bugs Bunny cartoons, but I can't find a reference to a specific cartoon.  SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |Your claim might have more 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |credibility if you hadn't mispelled Palo Alto, CA 94304 |"inteligent" kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com (650)857-7572 http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ >I'm almost positive that the line (as "army shoes", "army boots", or >perhaps "combat boots") was popularized by Bugs Bunny cartoons, but I >can't find a reference to a specific cartoon. I'm just as positive it came from a Bowery Boys movie, but don't hold me to it. Incidentally, I first heard it as "Your mother wears army shoes." The sudechao@gmail.com entity posted thusly: > hi, everyone, could you tell me the meaning of the following prase >"your mother wears army boots" ? When I read a novel, I meet it.As you >know, i am not a native english speaker. > thank you. It's an insult. I always took it as shorthand for "Your mother puts out (supplies sexual favours) for the troops, and in return receives gifts, army boots being, effectively, a very low price." > The sudechao@gmail.com entity posted thusly: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > out (supplies sexual favours) for the troops, and in return receives > gifts, army boots being, effectively, a very low price." On the same tack, I thought it implied that the mother needed solid footwear because she walked the streets so much. "I've been up and down those stairs twenty times today!" "Ooh, Flossie! Your poor feet!" SignatureMike. Apparently I am the only commenter who always assumed that this expression meant "your mother is a bull dyke". (For non-English speakers, a bull dyke is a masculine lesbian.) Karl, who was a kid in WWII. >> The sudechao@gmail.com entity posted thusly: >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > "I've been up and down those stairs twenty times today!" > "Ooh, Flossie! Your poor feet!" > Apparently I am the only commenter who always assumed that this expression > meant "your mother is a bull dyke". > (For non-English speakers, a bull dyke is a masculine lesbian.) For that meaning I've heard "Your mother wears jockey shorts". Fred'' > Karl, who was a kid in WWII. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >> "I've been up and down those stairs twenty times today!" >> "Ooh, Flossie! Your poor feet!" > The sudechao@gmail.com entity posted thusly: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > out (supplies sexual favours) for the troops, and in return receives > gifts, army boots being, effectively, a very low price." I've always, it seems, associated the term with "camp-follower". Of course the meaning of sexual favors is inherent. In other words "Your mother was a whore, and you are and SOB." As for the boots being payment. . .well, maybe. More likely she picked up thrown-aways and other trash around the army camp, did some cooking and put out for all comers, if only to feed her body, and her kids. I am trying to remember if the "hooch girls" and "hooch mamas" were from the Korean era or Vietnam (for US usage). >>It's an insult. I always took it as shorthand for "Your mother puts >>out (supplies sexual favours) for the troops, and in return receives [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > course the meaning of sexual favors is inherent. In other words "Your > mother was a whore, and you are and SOB." Strange that "Your mother wears silk/nylon stockings" never became an insult in England. (It was known that the only possessors of silk or nylon stockings had obtained them from American servicemen). SignatureRob Bannister >>>It's an insult. I always took it as shorthand for "Your mother puts >>>out (supplies sexual favours) for the troops, and in return receives [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > insult in England. (It was known that the only possessors of silk or > nylon stockings had obtained them from American servicemen). Maybe. I think both nylon and silk were rationed during the WWII, or so expensive that no one could afford them. But I have heard the "camp-follower" applied to wars and armies that existed long before WWII. I suspect the "army boots" is a bit older than WWII, as well. Maybe, just maybe, enough respectable women associated with US servicemen that gifts from the soldiers merited little more than a shrug. There are so many goings-on in a society under stress that they don't sweat the small stuff. > The sudechao@gmail.com entity posted thusly: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > out (supplies sexual favours) for the troops, and in return receives > gifts, army boots being, effectively, a very low price." I am naive. I always thought it meant "Your mother, a mannish person, is in the army." Your version makes more sense. SignatureSML >> The sudechao posted thusly: >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >I am naive. I always thought it meant "Your mother, a mannish person, is >in the army." Your version makes more sense. It does make sense, and it's as good an urban legend as any other, but it doesn't mesh with the colloquial usage I recall. It was a mild insult used by juveniles. It is difficult to think that boys of that tender age would have the sophistication to imply that sort of sexual context. It always seemed to me to be an insult of the order of the Black "Your mama is so ugly..." jokes. The insult expressed nothing more than your mother had no self-respect in her appearance. The phrase was considered so benign in sexual implication that it was used in films during the Hayes Censorship period. The "army boots" was always more of a joke than an insult; it was so lame nobody ever got a bloody nose using it. } Sara Lorimer wrote: }>Oleg Lego wrote: }> }>> The sudechao posted thusly: }>> }>> > hi, everyone, could you tell me the meaning of the following prase }>> >"your mother wears army boots" ? When I read a novel, I meet it.As you }>> >know, i am not a native english speaker. }>> > thank you. }>> }>> It's an insult. I always took it as shorthand for "Your mother puts }>> out (supplies sexual favours) for the troops, and in return receives }>> gifts, army boots being, effectively, a very low price." }> }>I am naive. I always thought it meant "Your mother, a mannish person, is }>in the army." Your version makes more sense. }> } } It does make sense, and it's as good an urban legend as any other, but it } doesn't mesh with the colloquial usage I recall. ... Same here. Plus which, the idiom where I was was "Your mother wears combat boots." Plus which, my godmother (who was plenty feminine and in the Army) _did_ wear combat boots when the occasion warranted. When I was in basic I missed mail call once, and the company commander, the first sergeant, and the mail clerk kindly delivered a letter from her to me in the barracks that night. Turns out they were wondering why I was getting mail from someone who outranked them all. Signaturerjv >} >} It does make sense, and it's as good an urban legend as any other, but it [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >the barracks that night. Turns out they were wondering why I was getting >mail from someone who outranked them all. Now THAT'S the army I remember! We had some kid who they suspected was connected to some Congressman so they gave him the red carpet treatment. I tend to agree with Murray and you, and I also remember it as "Your mother wears combat boots." It always seemed to be a non-joke that was a kid's introduction to cliches. BW [...] > >Same here. Plus which, the idiom where I was was "Your mother wears > >combat boots." Plus which, my godmother (who was plenty feminine and in [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > was connected to some Congressman so they gave him the red carpet > treatment. [...] Whereas, in Otherpondian units such an unfortunate, if noticed at all, would generally be shat on from no negligible altitude in the interests of fair and equal treatment. SignatureMike. |
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