word to the mother
STRONG EVIDENCE evidence grade — master store (canonical CSV)
Combined Graph record U-00638 · provenance: canonical master store (CSV), record CTL-W-0237. Master record source: CTL seed 2026-10-16 — UNVERIFIED, verify before public citation.
Phrase Finder page (fetched in full) quoting Geneva Smitherman, Black Talk (Houghton Mifflin, 1994) verbatim: 'Word is born! — An affirmative response to a statement or action. Also Word!, Word up!, Word to the Mother! A resurfacing of an old, familiar saying in the Black Oral Tradition, Yo word is yo bond... One's word is the guarantee, the warranty, the bond'; also quoting Dalzell, Flappers 2 Rappers (Merriam-Webster, 1996): hip-hop Word/Word Up = 'I agree!'
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
Phrase Finder page (fetched in full) quoting Geneva Smitherman, Black Talk (Houghton Mifflin, 1994) verbatim: 'Word is born! — An affirmative response to a statement or action. Also Word!, Word up!, Word to the Mother! A resurfacing of an old, familiar saying in the Black Oral Tradition, Yo word is yo bond... One's word is the guarantee, the warranty, the bond'; also quoting Dalzell, Flappers 2 Rappers (Merriam-Webster, 1996): hip-hop Word/Word Up = 'I agree!'
The record
- Work type: phrase
Sources
- https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/33/messages/33.html (verification source · master store)
Evidence note (master store)
Phrase Finder page (fetched in full) quoting Geneva Smitherman, Black Talk (Houghton Mifflin, 1994) verbatim: 'Word is born! — An affirmative response to a statement or action. Also Word!, Word up!, Word to the Mother! A resurfacing of an old, familiar saying in the Black Oral Tradition, Yo word is yo bond... One's word is the guarantee, the warranty, the bond'; also quoting Dalzell, Flappers 2 Rappers (Merriam-Webster, 1996): hip-hop Word/Word Up = 'I agree!'
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Record CTL-W-0237 · Combined Graph record U-00638 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 1 source.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
Cite this record
Chicago: CultureTechLens. “word to the mother (CTL-W-0237).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-0237/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). word to the mother (CTL-W-0237) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-0237/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “word to the mother (CTL-W-0237).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-0237/
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