From the Marvel Mixmaster to the Miracle Microwave, every time a new-fangled gadget has lobbed into the Aussie kitchen, Aussie mums have changed their cooking styles accordingly.1987, Kerry Cue, Hang On To Your Horses Doovers, page 5:
'Ooh Mum, Auntie don′t allow smokin’ - Pat′s eyes were round with awe as Mum struck a match.1993, Hilda Hollingsworth, Places of Greater Safety, Zenobia Press edition, page 278:
3 more examples
Her mum says that she is deaf and only partially sighted, so I need to go and stand in front of her, so she can see the gift.2004, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, Irene Dunlap, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2, page 336:
“Mum! Mum!” he shouted out. The laughter stopped. Two bright, sparkling yellow eyes peeped from the hollow. Atop her head were the fluffy ear tufts that his mum was so proud of because they were fuller and lovelier than those of most Great Horned Owls. It was indeed his mum!2006, Kathryn Lasky, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Book 11: To Be a King, page 88
2011, Chyna, FAM: Rolling in a London Girl Gang, unnumbered page, He′s looking at my mum, at her swollen eyes, busted nose and bloodied lips. She′s mashed up something chronic, and the man who did this to her is my dad.
Etymology From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).
The citizens are mum, and speak not a word.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]:
[Vladimir Putin] has serious climate problems. And he has been mum on his willingness to do anything.2021 November 2, Jim Tankersley, Katie Rogers, Lisa Friedman, quoting Joe Biden, “With Methane and Forest Deals, Climate Summit Offers Hope After Gloomy Start”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
“Come here, friend,” sternly from the doctor. “Now I give you the way inside if you’ll promise to keep it mum.”1922, Robert Welles Ritchie, Dust of the Desert, page 149:
Etymology From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).
1
stop speaking!, stop talking!, hush!
Mum, then, and no more.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
Ahab has that that’s bloody on his mind. But, mum; he comes this way.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 31, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 143:
mum
verb
Etymology From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).
"Well, Sal, you mum your dubber pretty generally, but when you do slacken your glib you may as well do it civilly."1857, Hidden Links; Or the Schoolfellows. A Tale, volume 2, page 233:
I don't know whether that's true or whether New Yorkers are being enjoined from watering the mums in their window boxes or whatever, but I do know that there hasn't been one rain-delay in the whole tournament so far […].1996, David Foster Wallace, “Democracy and Commerce at the US Open”, in Both Flesh And Not, Penguin, published 2013, page 139:
2
US A decoration traditionally made of chrysanthemums and ribbons, worn by girls at high school homecoming celebrations, marked with indicators such as the wearer's name, school, the year, and so on.
mum
noun
Etymology From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).
Entrust it under solemn Vows / Of Mum and Silence,[…]1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “[The Third Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Robert Horne, […], published 1679, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 277:
mum
noun
Etymology From German Mumme.
1
A type of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.
The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum.1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC: