Hi everyone! My Nana, who passed away at 85 a few years back, used to tell us grandkids to "sit on our MacDuffs." The meaning, of course, was obvious. I'm wondering, however, about her use of "MacDuff" in the place of "duff." Is there an etymology to this? Nana was born on the coast of Texas, as her parents were making the trek to Oakland, CA from Glasgow, Scotland...
Thanks in advance for any input!
I'm assuming it's a sort of euphemism.
Well, the "Mac-" makes sense when considered along with Scottish heritage. Also, at least one dictionary suggests duff, meaning rump, comes from a Scottish pronunciation for dough (like cough, I suppose). And, if your grandmother was at all a fan of Shakespeare, MacDuff was the eventual arbiter of the eponymous Macbeth's fate, so perhaps that is whence that derivation came.