Mum's the word
Mum's the word is a popular English idiom. It is related to an expression used by William Shakespeare, in Henry VI, Part 2.[1]
The word "mum" is an alteration of momme, which was used between 1350 and 1400 in Middle English with very close to the same meaning, "be silent; do not reveal".
Meaning
[edit]"Mum's the word" means to keep silent or quiet.
Mum is a Middle English word meaning 'silent',[2] and may be derived from the mummer who acts without speaking.[3] Note the similar English word "mime" (Old English "mīma", Latin "mimus") meaning silent actor or imitator.
Origin
[edit]The origins of the phrase can be traced back to the fourteenth century and William Langland's narrative poem, Piers Plowman:
Thou mightest beter meten the myst on Malverne hulles
Then geten a mom of heore mouth til moneye weore schewed!
It can also be seen in popular fifteenth-century Towneley Plays:[4]
Though thi lyppis be stokyn, yit myght thou say 'mum'.
The phrase notably appears in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2, Act 1, Scene 2:
Seal up your lips and give no words but mum.
References
[edit]- ^ ""Henry Act VI Part 2"".
- ^ " ""mum"".
- ^ ""Definition of Phrases"". Archived from the original on 2011-02-07. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
- ^ OED
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