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I came across the phrase "La mamá de Tarzán" when reading Los años con Laura Díaz by top Mexican author Carlos Fuentes.

The part of the book was set in the early part of the 20th century if I recall correctly and immediately made me think of English phrases like "the bees knees" and "the cat's pyjamas".

But was it used right across the Spanish speaking world or just in Mexico? Was it just in fashion for a few years and then disappeared or do people still say it today? How widespread was it, or is it?

Here is the expression in its context in the book:

―Yeah, I'm the cat's pijamas ―repitió Dantón que ella de una comedia de cine americano.

―Oigan, muchachos éste se las sabe todas. He's the bee's knees! ¡Es la mamá de Tarzán!

―Cómo no, Yo Colón.

As you can see it's complicated by being in a mixed Spanish/English context with wordplay and including both "bees knees" and "cat's pajamas" so it could be equivalent to those, but it could also be that they are using all three phrases to refer to somebody who thinks they are the best of the best. Which would give it two meanings maybe?

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  • 3
    I've never heard of it (Chile).
    – dusan
    Nov 17, 2011 at 16:54
  • 1
    I'm from Mexico and it's not a common phrase. Nov 17, 2011 at 17:02
  • 5
    Never heard of it (Spain)
    – Serabe
    Nov 17, 2011 at 17:14
  • 2
    Never heard of it (mexico)
    – isJustMe
    Nov 17, 2011 at 17:31
  • Never heard of it (Peru) Jan 3, 2012 at 3:14

4 Answers 4

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While looking for some example uses on Amazon I unexpectedly found the phrase in a book on Costa Rican Spanish - including a definition!

Official Guide to Costa Rican Spanish by Christopher Howard (2010)

Creerse la mamá de Tarzan - To be conceited

So at least this sense is not at all what I expected like "the bee's knees" or "the cat's whiskers".

But I do know a great idiomatic translation that works in Australian English:

Who does she think she is - Lady Muck?

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    "Creerse la mamá de Tarzan" is seldom used here in Colombia in popular speech and with the same meaning (to be conceited); another expression used around here with the same meaning is "Creerse la última Coca-Cola del desierto". Nov 21, 2011 at 16:08
  • Lady Muck exists in British English too.
    – jacobo
    Nov 24, 2018 at 19:14
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Google Trends doesn't think the phrase "La mamá de Tarzán" exists in any notable way, nor the phrase "the cat's pajamas." It does show a graph for "the bees knees."

A google search for the phrase 'la mamá de Tarán' does show a number of results, including a news article comparing Fox, Calderon, and "la mamá de Tarzán".

It's also a notable enough phrase that it has been written about elsewhere. Apparently "La mamá de King Kong" works as well.

Wiktionary translates la mamá de Tarzán to mean "the bee's knees."

There's a folk/comedy a song entitled La Mamá de Tarzán (with lyrics). (My favorite lyric of the song would have to be: hasta sientes que los pedos no te huelen)

There's even a web site called LamamadeTarzan: Intelegencía Colectíva

Conclusion: It sounds like it's a common enough phrase, but that many people would only understand its meaning based on context. Even so, I think I'll have to start using the phrase now. :)

Usage: From context, it seems the proper usage is to compare a person to la mamá de Tarzán, as a way of saying the person has super-human capabilities. Perhaps it is also used to describe things in a similar way (the Wiktionary entry that @hippietrail influenced would seem to be evidence of this.)

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  • Full disclosure: I'm at least one of the people behind the Wiktionary entry a few years back. I'm not sure how much is down to me any more but I didn't have a site like this to ask about it at the time (-: Nov 17, 2011 at 17:58
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In my experience it's someone that is proud about someone ELSE'S accomplishments. Tarzan's mom is proud of Tarzan, but feels like they should get some credit for his success

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Always used pejoratively of a person considered to have an over-inflated sense of themselves. Se cree la mama de Tarzan. All these people that never heard of it are trogledytes. He thinks he's all that- for American ears who've never heard of the briticism "he thinks he's the bee's knees".

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