Mc-
See also: mc, Mc, MC, mC, .mc, and M/C
English
Alternative forms
- Traditionally written as Mc-.
Etymology
From Irish mac (“son”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mək/, /mæk/
- Homophones: Mack, Mac
Prefix
Mc-
- A patronymic used to form common Irish and Scottish names, similar to the English -son.
- (often derogatory) Used in combination with a non-name descriptive word to form mock names.[1]
- Mc- + shit → McShit
- Mc- + stupid → McStupid
- 1950 Gerald McBoing Boing (cartoon short):
- "Nyah-nyah!" they all shouted. "Your name's not McCloy! You're Gerald McBoing Boing, the noise-making boy!'
- 1968 Eddie Jefferson "Filthy McNasty" (lyrics for a 1961 instrumental of the same name by Horace Silver):
- His body is lean.
- His feet aren't clean.
- His mouth is real mean
- When he's on the scene,
- But all the time you hear the women really yellin' his name: Filthy McNasty.
- 2005, Daniel J. Hill, Divinity and Maximal Greatness, Routledge, →ISBN, page 44:
- Alternatively, one may make the example a bit sharper by discussing a being, call him 'McStupid', that always knows who he is, but knows nothing else.
- 2006, Brigid Lowry, Guitar Highway Rose, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 29:
- I bet Thomas McSmart-arse makes some dumb comment about my nose-ring.
- 2007, Martha Kimes, Ivy Briefs: True Tales of a Neurotic Law Student, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 173:
- And when she's not at the Law Review office, she's out with her goddamn Law Review friends. Goddamn Art McAsshole and goddamn Lisa Von- Bitchypants and the worst — the very worst — is that goddamn Charlotte Sidwell.
- (business) Used to form the name of McDonald's products.
- Coordinate term: (Apple) i-
- Mc- + griddle → McGriddle
- Mc- + muffin → McMuffin
- Mc- + rib → McRib
- Mc- + café → McCafé
- (by extension, derogatory) Indicating a lack of depth or worth, by association with McDonald's.
- Mc- + car → McCar
- Mc- + car → McChurch
- Mc- + job → McJob
- Mc- + mansion → McMansion
- 1983 Wallace Marx, "It's Not How Long You Make It," New York Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 50 (19 Dec 1983), p11
- Sesame Street is "McEducation." Like things served by the golden arches, Sesame Street has at once elevated the dregs and lowered the quality to mediocrity
- 1995 Christopher Lloyd, Linda Morris & Vic Rauseo, "Dark Victory," Frasier, Season 2, Episode 24 (aired 23rd May 1995), spoken by Niles Crane (played by David Hyde Pierce)
- Two years of hard work wiped out by one of your 2 minute McSessions!
- 2003 Anthony Wright, British politics: a very short introduction, Oxford University Press, p35
- Some of the techniques have been imported from the United States, but Britain's tight political and media village is now the European market leader in this kind of McPolitics.
- (by extension, derogatory, humorous) Indicating an increase in availability or an increase in consumerism causing items to be more readily avaliable.
- Mc- + nuke → McNuke
Derived terms
English terms prefixed with Mc-
English terms prefixed with Mc- (derogatory)
Related terms
- Mac-
Translations
Irish and Scottish patronymic
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See also
- McWord
References
- Katy Waldman (25 March 2016), “From Cool McCool to Boaty McBoatface: An Investigationy McInvestigation”, in Slate, retrieved 8 March 2018
Anagrams
- CM, cM