Mum's the word Mum's the word Mum's the word is a popular English idiom. It is related to an expression used by William Shakespeare, in "Henry VI, Part 2". The word “mum” is a slanged version of momme, which was used between 1350-1400 in Middle English with very close to the same meaning: Be silent; Do not reveal "Mum's the word" means to keep silent or quiet. "Mum" is a Middle English word meaning 'silent', and may be derived from the "mummer" who acts without speaking. Note the similar English word "mime" (Old English "mīma", Latin "mimus") meaning silent actor or imitator. The
Names for the number 0 in English similarly come from Old English "āwiht" and "ōwiht", which are similarly compounds of "a" ("ever") and "wiht". Their meanings are thus the opposites to those of "naught" and "nought", and in English they in fact, strictly speaking, mean "anything" or "all". (Fowler notes that "aught" is an archaism, and that "all" is now used in phrases such as "for all (that) I know", where once they would have been "for aught (that) I know".) However, "aught" and "ought" are also sometimes used as names for 0, in contradiction of their strict meanings. The reason for this is a rebracketing, whereby