About

Mother Is Mothering refers to a catchphrase utilized by fans of Taylor Swift and other pop female artists as a form of praise for the artist's work. The phrase references the mother slang term from LGBTQ+ culture and can be interpreted as a different way of saying "yass queen" or "slay."

Origin

The earliest usage of the expression mother is mothering found was posted on November 3rd, 2014, by Twitter^[1] user @Iikedaylight, a Taylor Swift fan account. The tweet (seen below) shows a selfie between American Actress Aisha Tyler and Taylor, with the caption "I love when my mother is mothering."

Spread

The expression only gained traction in early 2022 when fans of other pop singers started to use the term to praise their favorite artists. For instance, Twitter^[2] user @Cb2Era posted a video of Cardi B on June 4th, 2022, using the expression in the caption to indicate how good the singer was looking. The video (seen below) garnered 366 likes and 48 retweets in a year.

Around March 2023, "Mother is Mothering" became a popular catchphrase among Taylor Swift fans after she initiated her 2023 The Eras Tour across the United States. For instance, Twitter^[3] user @taylorslavender posted a picture (seen below, left) of the singer during one of her concerts with the caption "Mother is Mothering," garnering 1,877 likes and 191 retweets in three months.

On May 14th, 2023, Taylor Swift called out her fans that uses the expression by saying “Something that you guys are always saying online is ‘Mother is Mothering!’ Which I think you mean in a totally different context than Mother’s Day…” Twitter^[4] user @TSwiftNZ posted the full quote (seen below) from the singer, receiving 2,100 likes and 358 retweets in four days.

📹 | “Something that you guys are always saying online is ‘mother is mothering!’ Which I think you mean in a totally different context than Mother's Day…” -- Taylor tonight #PhillyTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/K3fjuoNMjD

— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) May 15, 2023

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References