Yesterday afternoon, while I was wandering the aisles in the local supermarket, a black woman several feet in front of me was pushing her cart, at random uttering “Mmmmm MM MM! Mmmmm MM!” every so often to nobody in particular. I’ve often heard black women use “Mmmmm MM MM!” in conversation, and occasionally hear some mumble it to themselves.
Is there a name for this sound? What are its origins?
If you get the answer to this, then you can ask why white women say, “Dear, me.”
I’m not a black woman, but I make this noise when I see something I like, cute girl, tasty delicacy, or a very nice car.
I’m not a black woman and I’ve been doing this for at least sixty years. I picked it up from my mother, who was not a black woman either. Maybe it came from the old Campbells Soup jingle that included the words “mmm-mmmm-good, that’s what Campbell’s soup is, mmmm-mmmm-good.” But where did Campbell’s Soup get it?
IANABW, but I’m married to one. She doesn’t make this particular humming noise often, but betwen her and her friends, I’ve noticed it used both as Epimetheus does, as well as an expression of (relatively) quiet disapproval or suprise. Not suprisingly, I hear her do it most often (presumably in the second sense)when grading students’ papers.
I am not a black woman either (where are all the black women today? Is there something going on?) but I would think that the Mmmm is a substitute for mindless humming.
I am neither black nor a woman and I do not think that black women have the market cornered on this vocalization but I know the sound we’re talking about. This is no mindless humming.
It’s not a musical hum. It’s more of a long m sound on one note as though someone were drawing out the beginning of a word that begins with m, followed by a glottal stop and another shorter m sound at a slightly lower pitch, then another glottal stop and still another short m sound at an even lower pitch.
It can be positive but usually negative, as in surprised disapproval (as described by caveman; I’m assuming the students have made a few really bad errors). Appropriate when looking at the latest price of Regular when pulling up to the pump.
The duration of each tone and the pitch drop vary depending on the reaction expressed. A faster repetition of the last two m’s indicates serious disapproval, like a tsk-tsk, in a “shame on you/him” way. Longer durations imply that the speaker is somewhat stunned, as in, “I can’t believe it.” In fact, for emphasis, the phrase, “I can’t believe it” might follow the mmm’s, using the same pitch envelope and rhythm.
I doubt there’s a factual answer to the etymology of something that’s not a word.
I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a white woman, other than Mrs. Pool in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, say this. As for the OP, I’ve never heard anyone *other * than
black women use this expression in earnest. I sometimes do it as a joke, but it would never have occured to me to express myself that way if I hadn’t heard it from them first.
Then substitute “Oh. My. God.” 
Tom Hamilton, the radio voice of the Cleveland Indians, is the whitest white man ever from Wisconsin, and he says “mm mm MMM” all the time as a means to convey disapproval … I suspect he usually uses it in situations where he would like to say something else but would prefer to keep his job.
Hijack, but where are all the black women?
It’s both a Black English thing, and a general Southern thing. My lily-white Texas grandmother makes this noise when she’s seen something she doesn’t like.
Umm yeah, uh there’s a whole bunch of these umm sound thingies.
The one for yes is uh-huh (ŭN’hŭN’) and the one for no is uh-uh (ŭN’ŭN’, ŭN’ŭN’) {sound files on those pages}.
So, I’m pretty sure you’re hearing a triple uh-uh, which sounds like either those mmms or NNnnn NNnnn NNnnnnn. Usually accompanied by a wagging finger when you’re caught trying to steal cookies as a child.
CMC fnord!
Someone told me it was a slang, or sometimes more polite way of saying, Lord have mercy, or Lawd-a-mercy!
She was black but never really said it herself. :shrugs:
Didn’t Mammy say it in Gone With the Wind?
Do we have a video/audio clip of this sound?
Well, this is close. Even though it’s not a Black woman saying it, I’d be willing to bet that the author, who has yet to be identified, is Black.
OK, it’s not really in the spirit of the OP, but it was the closest I could find.
I’m wondering how the OP heard this, 'cuz I can easly hear a yummy sound, or tsk tsk tsk sound.
Inflection Baby, yeah!
[tim kazurinsky]Oooh, ooh! I could be a black woman![/tim kazurinsky]