Druchii.net

I think this is the right section to post this question.

"Who is your daddy?"

What does that mean? I've heard it when watching films in original language. Is that a kind of joke or is it an insult? I think it'd be interesting reaching a translation, maybe in italian it would sound funny

Not actually an insult... Not a joke... Hard to explain. Its a way of taunting, I'd say.

Damn, I know exactly what it means and when it is used but can't explain it any better in English

Its a taunt, and a way to insist the speaker's supposed superiority over the person(s) addressed.

I think it's largely based on the assumptions of our largely patriarchal society (inherited from Greco-Roman ideas of domesticity) where the father figure has the most power. Hence the rhetorical question "who's your daddy?" implies the speaker is the father and hence most powerful.[/i]

I thought it was like "where is your daddy?" so saying "run to him and cry because I'm bad" or something similar, just like when you ask kids that has lost themselves or something like that. Damn! In italian that phrase wouldn't work properly... the answer would be "what the hell are you asking?"

The 'Daddy' was/ is the name given to the toughest/ top boy in borstals. Hence saying somebody is the daddy would mean they are in charge ie the boss.

Watch the classic film Scum for graphic illustration of this. Be warned theres many distubing scenes especially the uncut version. Theres not a bad boy alive in England that doesn't know the phrase "I'm the f**king daddy now!"

sounds like fun anyway - how do you say it in italian?

There is nothing that seems like that... The phrase "who's your daddy?" has no other sense than the normal one. No phrases of this kind (taunts) concern the "daddy" word. Only when someone is whining you could ask ironically "Where is your mommy?", meaning that he could return to his family to cry.

We cripple the name of the targeted person, making his name ridicolous (it is usually considered offensive if not used with known people) or simply calling it "ciccio" (it sounds like "c" from "chase", "i" like the double "e" of "deep", repeat the "c" of before but it's a double, and "io" becomes a normal "o", so it could be pronunced "cheeccho") that in english could be translated as "fat boy/fatty", but it's quite ironic. It's not important if the person is actually fat or not; on the contrar is more effective with a slim person. Then it is supported by a certain accent usually in a phrase like "Ue ciccio, what are you talking about uh?". Ue (is pronounced we and the "e" is like in "extra") is like a "Hey you". This term means that you're a not identified person, one just passing through, that says things obvious.

In some parts of Italy we use the term "blonde" as the previous "ciccio". I think that "blonde" is used to point out that the other person has got his acme in his blonde hair, but he's not that smart (again it is used even if the person has the hair of a different colour, just to say that even if he's not blonde he should have been of this colour because he's not smart). Both those terms can be easily used with friends, just not to say their name, there is no offence in them in this case. It really depends on the tone you're using and if the situation is a discussion or simply a friendly speaking.

Speaking about complete phrases you could use "who are you? the maid's son?" to point out that the person does not know an obvious thing, or "return to your country" to invite the person to stop saying things you consider very wrong.

If the situation requires it (because usually things are getting worse) you start asking "and who are you?", intending that the other person is noboy, but this is done in extreme cases and when the situation is very stressed.

I can't understand if the phrase "who's your daddy?" can be considered an offence and when it could be used. If it implies that you're the boss the situation should be quite tense, isn't it?

Normally when i finally blow someones head off on Unreal Tournament who has killed me all night, i scream "Whos your daddy now!" at the game. If that helps, as an example. Means your the best

Normally when i finally blow someones head off on Unreal Tournament who has killed me all night, i scream "Whos your daddy now!" at the game. If that helps, as an example. Means your the best

Got the concept.

No, at this point it is a clear claim of superiority. So in italian would be better translate it with "and then?", repeated some times, meaning "if I can do this imagine where I could get/you can't stop me", or simply using "who's the boss?" that it's surely used also in english.

Edit: it can also be translated with "but who am I?" as a rethorical question. I think this is the most similar meaning even in the construction of the phrase. "But" is intended quite as an exclamation and the question implies that I'm the best.

It's like how in Rome it used to be true that the man of the house had full power over all members, up to and including the power of life and death. It implies that level of domination. Also, there is the sexual connotation - who is the one that lays down with your mother?

Social and sexual domination. It's fairly crude, eh?

Ehhh..... the implication is that your parents were unmarried at the time of your birth and you are, hence, a bastard. There is a secondary implication that the speaker may or may not be your father, in which case he had sex with your mother at some point AND your entire life and identity may be constructed upon false pretenses. It's a pretty complex insult really.

i'm with arq on this one, it calls the insultee's paternal origins into question, implying that he/she is illegitimate. which makes it rather disturbing if used in a sexual context...

also, literal meaning is largely irrelevant at this point, it has many different contexts. to quote one of the funniest shows this decade, "you know what it means! you know what it means by how it makes you feel!"

I copied this from a boffin site...

Though the catchphrase "I'm the Daddy now" was used in the TV / Film
drama "Scum" in the 70s.
From the usage of "Daddy" as the hardest man on a prison wing - similar
to the US boss con.
"Daddy" as person in charge is cited by Partridge and OED back to the
19th Century in the form of daddy = stage manager.


The phrase obviously has different meanings depending on your country. In england it only means I'm the hardest, or I'm a stud (or similar).

Everyone knows Carling (real life hardman actor Ray Winstone) is the daddy, and when you watch the film you'll see that. I think some are going too highbrow here.

The phrase obviously has different meanings depending on your country. In england it only means I'm the hardest, or I'm a stud (or similar).

It's quite funny this situation, because while in enlgish that phrase could sound really different from place to place, in Italy we've many expressions that have those different gradations and are all different between them. Sure the tone is important, but we use very different phrases. You can see it in my last 2 posts: in the first I thought it was quite an insult and I gave the Italian "translation" (if we could call it so) and in the last I add a second different interpretation.

Surely considering the link with the "bastard" concept it becomes again much different. But there are too many expressions to report them all here