Who invented “yo mama” jokes? It’s not the kind of question people concern themselves with, and we don’t blame you. (Though, we also expect a judgment-free space for those of us who are curious.) However, if you ever dug deep into the lore of these immature jabs, you might be surprised to learn that the legendary playwright and poet invented a heck of a lot more than just his own words. 

Whose Child is This?

Noel le Mire (engraver, 1724-1801) Jean-Michel Moreau (artist, 1741-1814) John Bell (publisher, 1745-1831) on Wikimedia

The scene is this: in Titus Andronicus, Tamora is married to a man named Saturninus, with whom she has two sons, Chiron and Demetrius (don’t worry, these names aren’t on the test, but you need them for context). However, she falls for a Black man named Aaron, and eventually gets pregnant and has his son. Once he’s brought out to meet the three men, Chiron and Demetrius immediately recognize the color of his skin, which then sends them into a tizzy about their mother’s reputation and the obvious implications. 

So, what’s a man to do in light of all the questioning? Oh, nothing—just deliver one of the coldest lines in a Shakespeare play:

DEMETRIUS: Villain, what hast thou done?

AARON: That which thou canst not undo.

CHIRON: Thou hast undone our mother.

AARON: Villain, I have done thy mother.

Why it Worked So Well

Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount (17th-century printers); Folger Shakespeare Library (photographer) on Wikimedia

We know, we know: there’s nothing worse than explaining why a joke is funny. However, the tongue-in-cheek punchline was a pretty great burn, even by the 1500s standards, and it warrants closer examination. You not only have Chiron’s upset at “undoing” Tamora (in other words, ruining her life and good standing), but Aaron’s rebuttal is a cut-and-dry reference to intimacy. For its time, Shakespeare managed to slip in a surprisingly modern double entendre that still gets people chortling to this day. 

Upon hearing the confession, Demetrius curses the child and his mother’s choices, but Aaron is unfazed. If anything, that was probably the least of his misdeeds throughout the play. 

The Father of Language

Attributed to John Taylor on Wikimedia

If you only ever studied Shakespeare in school, his name likely still elicits boredom. But we’re all adults now, and it’s time to relish in everything this famous playwright brought to the table. Hilarious jokes aside, he was also famous for inventing his own words and turns of phrase, thousands of which snuck their way into today’s dictionaries. 

It’s virtually impossible to have a conversation without using some of the words he’s credited with coining. Everything from “fashionable” and “addiction” to words like “swagger” saw their inception in Shakespeare’s works. If we head back to Titus Andronicus, we can even see the word “gloomy,” an adjective that Shakespeare supposedly invented. 

We know it’s easy to breeze past him in the bookstore, but you might want to give his plays a try the next time you’re out. After all, you never really know what’s tucked away in his pages—and knowing him, it was probably something insane.