Fads come and go, and then they come back. The flared jean, the mini cooper, the Volkswagen Bug; all of these have gone through that same pattern. Some fads disappear for decades before reappearing, others like knickerbockers for example, have yet to return. One fad that not only came back, but blew down the backdoor, is the infamous “yo’ mama” joke. The witty remark has found its way into life’s everyday vocabulary.
Years ago a yo’ mama joke was considered insulting. Today it is a PG retort used widely by teenagers. They are normally used in a lighthearted manner that suggests to everyone in earshot not to be offended, and really have nothing to do with your mom: “Your mom has a rain puddle,” or my favorite “your mom’s your face.” Obviously your mom is NOT your face, but that doesn’t stop participants from stopping, dropping, and laughing. The sayings are pointless, completely meaningless, and can strike without warning. The simplest conversation of how’s the weather, can provoke a “your mom is the weather.”
The reemergence of the yo’ mama joke can be traced back to a line in Napoleon Dynamite. The specific line was merely five words long and went like this: “Your mom goes to college.” Although they didn’t last as long, the phrases “fine” and “gosh” both came from the same movie. Somehow the line caught like wildfire, and now it’s hard to not hear a yo’ mama joke when you eavesdrop on a conversation. The little buggers are contagious too, almost like a yawn. They find their way into your subconscious, somehow fending off your better judgment, and before you can close your mouth you’ll find yourself saying “your mom is a plumber” to the poor sucker that’s now supposed to fix your sink.
In the end it’s just a fad right, it’ll go away. “Your mom is a fad.”