Okay, I confess I’m completely at a loss to understand the slang phrase ‘‘Who’s your daddy?’’ Adding to my confusion are two facts:
[ul]
[li] There was some old rock song with the lyrics that I think went something like, ‘‘What’s your name, who’s your daddy, is he really rich like me.’’ Any connection?[/li][li] About half the time I see this phrase written out, it’s ‘‘Whose your daddy?’’[/li][li] I forgot who I’m supposed to say Hi to.[/li][/ul]
Trying to figure the meaning of this phrase from context, I infer that it means something along the lines of “Awright!” But sometimes it seems to have sexual connotations. I don’t want to yell ‘‘Who’s your daddy?’’ in a fit of irrational exhuberance and find out that I just made a pass at someone.
So what’s the deal? Why is it so faddish to inquire about someone’s paternal lineage, with the possible implication that one is a bastard?
It’s more of a declaration of superiority over the one to whom you’re saying it. As in:
“I just beat you in 5 straight games of <whatever> … Who’s your daddy?”
It can also be sexual in nature, if you have your partner completely hanging on your every action in orgasmic delight, yell at her “Who’s your daddy?” (Note – this is actually very tacky and I can’t say that I can think of a single woman that I know who would actually think that this was cool OR funny. More of a porno type thing. Not that I … [sub]eh, screw it[/sub]).
Most of the time, it’s just a half-kidding way to say that you’re the one in charge. I have no idea of it’s origin.
this has been already discussed in a previous thread… search and ye shall find
Opal, as in OpalCat.
You can find a brief discussion of “Who’s Your Daddy” in this thread, but it doesn’t really address the entire origin…
It originated in prison slang, I know that much. The details aren’t clear, but I’m sure I don’t have to describe the sexual politics and assaults that go on in an all male penitentiary, but when I first heard it years ago, that’s where I was told it came from. It began as a clear statement of domination, implying sodomy as the method. And there’s a real good probability that “daddy” was shortened from “pimp daddy.”
From there, it spread into street culture, since the cultural barriers between prisons and ghettos/barrios get fewer and fewer as we imprison more and more of our minority citizens. (One in six urban male black youths do time, as of 1999.) This is where I first heard it being used, and it was being used pretty much the same way, but with a bit more hostility. From there, it obviously found avenues into the mainstream culture via Rap music, MTV, and other youth-targeted glorifications of the modern, black urban experience.
Then a comedian named Jeff “Buzz” Sutherland recorded a bit called “Duck Job” wherein he did an audio impression of Donald Duck receiving a blowjob. Near the end, Donald crows “Who’s your daddy? Whoooooze your daddy?” (And actually, it’s a pretty damn funny piece.) A bootleg of this circulated heavily on the internet in 1998-99. You can now find it on his website. Thus, it was implanted firmly in many peoples’ minds, and strongly associated with a racy comedy bit, ripe for propagation of the meme that this phrase is acceptable for casual, social use.
I’ve heard it used in so many contexts in the past year, I can’t say exactly how it made the last step into common usage. For the critical boost, it probably got uttered in some popular TV show or used on a best-selling CD, or in a movie. But recently, many of the contexts aren’t really appropriate for the phrase’s connotation. I find it mildly disturbing that it’s become so popular… apparently, people who use it casually aren’t aware or have forgotten its origin.
And there’s some confusion with the lyrics of the old (Guess Who??) tune, but in that context, the question is clearly “what is the identity of your paternal unit?” Given the context in which the contemporary phrase is used, it is clearly not interrogatory… and anyone who claims so is probably being dishonest, at least to themselves. But this association surely served to reinforce the contemporary version and help promote it.
For instance, my 6th grade neice asked me what it meant after two boys said it to her and then claimed to be referring to the song, when confronted. But she was confused, because of the context and the way the boys said it. So I told her about the less respectable origin. She’s old enough and precocious enough to understand all of the details, and she was rightly offended. The next school day, she complained to her teacher, and got an apology (probably forced) from the boys.
I don’t object to the phrase being used, I just object to people using it casually, because it essentially means “I sodomized you and now you’re my bitch.” If that’s what you mean to say, fine. But know what you’re saying, because when you say it to me, I will react accordingly.
‘What’s your name, who’s your daddy, is he really rich like me.’’
“Time of the Season” by The Zombies. They also did “She’s Not There”
I always figured the phrase originated around the same time as ‘Daddy Warbucks’ in the old Annie (?) cartoon: a benevolent male figure, ‘Daddy’, bestowing gifts on his female acquaintance.
The image and the phrase always kind of grated on me because it assumed the recipient girl was powerless, existing just to receive gifts, and having no strength of her own. And that we men were just sources of Money and Stuff to be plundered when convenient.
Actually, this has been discussed in at least three threads, one of which was mine. I discovered that mine wasn’t the first, in fact, but I think the thread I initiated had the real answer – “Daddy” = “Sugar Daddy” = your SO. So when the singer asks “What’s your name? Who’s your Daddy? Is he rich like me?” he’s clearly trying to impress her and steal her away from the other guy.
I spent a brief period of confusion over a similar phrase, “who’s the man?” until I heard it used in the following context:
Two co-workers, both male, both hetero, tended because of similar interests to spend a lot of non-work time together. They were both single, both athletic, etc. One of them had by far the superior sense of humor and it occurred to him that some people might jump to conclusions about their lifestyles. He said to me one day, “You know, we had been playing basketball the other day and stopped at the grocery store to buy some beer. I couldn’t help but wonder how many people saw us shopping together and thought to themselves, ‘Now who’s the man in that relationship?’”
I have to assume bughunter’s theory of incarcerated dominance plays some role in the etymology of that phrase, too. 
I don’t remember contributing to previous threads about this so here goes:
Daddy , as a term referring to an older man, but voiced by a younger woman(such as a prostitute), goes back to the late 1600’s. Daddy, meaning a “male lover, boyfirend, or husband, or the lover and protector of a prostitute” goes back to 1909. Daddy as a prison term can be traced to 1932. All of these dates are their first appearance in print. Actual usage assuredly precedes those dates.
OK, bughunter, I’ll take your word on it that it originated in prisons, and it’s certainly a statement of dominance, but how do you figure that it implies sodomy and/or rape?
I looked up the lyrics to ‘‘Time of the Season’’ (thanks, Dooku.) Released: November 1968 Charts: No. 3 [US]
So it’s in the context of a man making a pass at a woman. If you read ‘‘daddy’’ as ‘‘sugar daddy,’’ as suggested, it could be along the lines of ‘‘Who’s your sugar daddy, and is he doing all right by you?’’ (Implication: I could do better, so come along with me.)
Or you could take it as typical '60s youth rebellion: Hey, girl, has your daddy kept you all sheltered? Has he taught you the type of things a groovy, hip young stud like me could teach you yada yada yada.
As for the possibility that the origin is ‘‘Who’s your pimp daddy,’’ an interesting suggestion. I don’t know if the prison analogy is definitive, though, because it might as well be used by a pimp dominating his women. (Do I get points for not saying ‘‘his stable of ho’s’’?)
FYI: I do search for topics before posting. I think relevant threads were either earlier than 30 days or did not have ‘‘daddy’’ in the subject line.
Well, you would have.
Are you kidding? I would LMAO if my husband did that. Seriously.
In fact, I can actually picture him doing it, right after slapping me on the ass.
