# Black women and "Mmmmm MM MM!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886 "2006-05-08T14:15:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/21 "2010-10-28T03:34:43Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > It’s both a Black English thing, and a general Southern thing. That’s the right answer to any “Why do black people do \_\_\_” question. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/22 "2010-10-28T15:28:37Z")
Precisely. Kind of like how soul food is actually southern food. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/23 "2010-10-28T15:49:03Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Hijack, but where are all the black women? “I’ll take 'Things Cleavon Little Didn’t Say in _Blazing Saddles’_ for $100, please, Alex.” ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/24 "2010-10-28T16:06:22Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > It’s both a Black English thing, and a general Southern thing. Yup. I used to hear it fairly often here in central Oklahoma. The usage seems to be dropping off, but it was never a “black thing” here. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/25 "2010-10-28T17:47:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “I’ll take 'Things Cleavon Little Didn’t Say in _Blazing Saddles’_ for $100, please, Alex.” That’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/26 "2010-10-28T18:37:23Z")
Is there a difference between “Mmmmm MM MM!” and the sound of congregational approval made at frequent intervals in some church services? (I thought that one was “Mmmmm MM”) > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Tom Hamilton, the radio voice of the Cleveland Indians, is the whitest white man ever from Wisconsin How do you know there haven’t been any whiter white men from Wisconsin? Was there a skin tone survey? ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/27 "2010-10-28T18:57:35Z")
I have a very proper, very white cousin who uses this in a more abbreviated way. And it’s delivered in a nearly inaudible tone. When she does this brief “hmm” sound all conversation stops and then changes direction. I imagine it to mean, “And I’m not saying what I think about that.” Pretty powerful, that little unvocalized sound. I don’t think it’s just a woman thing, but in a society which not so long ago didn’t approve of women commenting on things of import perhaps it became a way she could still get her two cents worth in without risking social censure. ETA: What is it with grocery stores, anyway? I see all manner of people who seem to use their trip to the store as a way of drawing attention to themselves. I think it must be their only day out of the house and they are seizing the opportunity to say, “Hey World, I exist.” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/28 "2010-10-29T00:47:35Z")
I know exactly what the OP is talking about, and most of you are off base. It is a very distinct sound, it arises almost exclusively from black women, and it has a very specific and singular meaning (very similar to ‘Lord have mercy’, as pointed out previously). There is another utterance that black women make that shares the same characteristics (aside from the underlying meaning): “Girrrrrrrrrl!” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/29 "2010-10-29T13:04:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > How do you know there haven’t been any whiter white men from Wisconsin? Was there a skin tone survey? Lawrence Welk was from Minnesota. Disqualified. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/30 "2010-10-29T14:21:03Z")
[Related.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV6OQw1sTnQ) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/31 "2010-10-29T14:49:20Z")
And all this time I thought they want “doot, doot, doot, do do do doot, doot, doot, do do do doot” I should listen more closely. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/32 "2010-10-29T17:11:18Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > And all this time I thought they want “doot, doot, doot, do do do doot, doot, doot, do do do doot” > > I should listen more closely. I’ll bet Lou Reed told you that. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/33 "2010-10-29T17:21:11Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Lawrence Welk was from Minnesota. Disqualified. Pssst. . . North Deekota ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/34 "2010-10-29T17:27:28Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > 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? Despite what you may have been told, black people are not, in fact, extraterrestrials. Most of us have the same number of fingers and toes as white folk. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/35 "2010-10-29T18:34:13Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Despite what you may have been told, black people are not, in fact, extraterrestrials. Most of us have the same number of fingers and toes as white folk. Cite? D&R ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/36 "2010-10-29T18:44:14Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Pssst. . . North Deekota 😛 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/37 "2010-10-29T18:56:59Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Pssst. . . North Deekota Minnesota, North Dakota, what’s the difference? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/38 "2010-10-29T19:20:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Cite? > > D&R Why do you say these things, when you know I will kill you for it? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/39 "2010-10-29T21:10:58Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Why do you say these things, when you know I will kill you for it? It is obviously a clever ruse to lull you into a false sense of security. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886/40 "2010-10-30T00:27:53Z")
I say dis befo: My mama say dat mmmm-mmmm-mmmm stuff 'n she ain’t black. Hell, I say dat mmmm-mmmm-mmmm stuff 'n I ain’t black. Y’all ain’t gotta be black t say dat stuff. Heps, doe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-women-and-mmmmm-mm-mm/355886.md?page=3)