# Meaning of "Who's your daddy?"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-whos-your-daddy/79757>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 4, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-whos-your-daddy/79757 "2001-09-04T22:50:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-whos-your-daddy/79757/1 "2001-09-04T22:50:58Z")

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The phrase “who’s your daddy?” What do guys mean by that? Is it a line from a movie or a TV show that made sense in context? Is it meant to be taken literally? Is “daddy” short for “sugardaddy”? Do men want to have sex with their daughters, even if they don’t have daughters yet, or their daughters are babies? Personally, whenever I hear it, I picture my father, which may or may not be what the guy is going for. Is he?

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**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-whos-your-daddy/79757/2 "2001-09-04T23:02:25Z")

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[Usage of 'Who’s Your Daddy?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=45749)

[Who’s Your Daddy?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=32157)

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**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-whos-your-daddy/79757/3 "2001-09-04T23:13:21Z")

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Man, and here I thought I’d come up with something that hadn’t come up before. Thanks for directing me to those threads.

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**Author:** ![The\_Bitterdrunk\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@The\_Bitterdrunk\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bitterdrunk_Kid)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-whos-your-daddy/79757/4 "2001-09-05T18:02:29Z")

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For some reason, “daddy” has been used for boyfriend (usually with the connotation of sugardaddy) has been used since at least the late 40’s. The country singer Hank Williams sings several songs where he says that. in “Moanin’ the Blues”, for example, he says “Your daddy is leavin’, and all I do is moan”. There are several others, but that one comes to mind. Chances are it got picked up from blues music, which Hank was influenced by. “Who’s your daddy?” probably came from that older expression, and took on a more sexual connotation along the way.