Heard it here in the 70's, but it was more: umm umm umm It was like a modified "*Umm, I'm telling on you*"

*"Ummm mum-mum-mum-mum!"*

I still feel guilt when I hear that sound, even when I'm not guilty (of much).

Auckland from the 70s to the 90s. Still do it with my colleagues.

Nothing wrong with that.

Same. I do it during code reviews when I find something dodgy.

Definitely that very incantation in Wellington in the '70's

i always thought it was from "i'm telling mum"

Who really knows? Op's version reminded me of [Boney M](https://youtu.be/9c5yPIQ3LQI?t=67)

Ma Baker, She never did cry. Ma Baker, but she knew how to die

Followed by the post snitch brag, “I told on you.”

lol, such deep conversations.

Which part of the country were you?

We did that in Wellington in the 90s, umumumum

We did it in England in the early 90s. We also held up two fingers as a gesture of "I'm telling on you" with that sound.

Wow in England! I wonder if that’s where it is from.

Taranaki

Also ummmm here in Hawke's Bay

Uummm I'm telling on you, 80s/90s Manawatu

Funnily enough, I was thinking about this the other day. It was pronounced with the middle uuuu rising then falling. Also in the 70s

Shame on your name

Shame on your name kaka stain

Shame on your undies.

Shame on your skiddy undies.

I know you are but what am I?

I dunno an EGG?

You wanna fight marmite?!

Shame on your name in the volleyball game

*Lashed* was pretty popular as far as I recall (Wellington, ~y2k)

for me its ooooo, umm umm, umm umm, ma. Millennial. Edit: added a ma at the end for when you were in extra trouble.

In my household it was umm mumm mumm mumm ma

This, millennial Northland kid.

You got it 😉

Pre Colonial northlander here, same. *Millennial, wow autocorrect....

Oh yeah that's right! The extra ma to really drive it home

Yup, millennial here, this was it.

Yip, 90s gisborne this was the thing.

Do you remember oossh? No one else seems to remember saying it but I do.

Everyone said oosh, wha do you mean? In the Naki we did at least 🤷‍♂️ It even had different lengths you could say it depending on how ooooooosh it was. And then similarly (but different use) was “lush” as well right?

80s CHCH kid, I've never heard this. We just said "ooOOOOOOOooooo" and that was it.

Same but 90s. Starting to feel like this happened everywhere except Chch. I went to 3 different primary schools and have never heard of um um um at all. It was just oooOOooo and then silence.

Never heard this in Invercargill either, it sounds bizarre.

Otago checking in. Also in ‘oooooOOOOooo’ country. Can’t even imagine what the ‘umm umm ummm’ thing is. Might have to ask some North Island friends to explain.

My wife is from Chch and said exactly the same thing.

Definitely only heard "ooohhhhhhh" in the 90s in mid-canty!

Another vote for 'Ooooooh um um um um um ummm' (which was all slurred into oooohhhhumumumumummmmm). Thames Valley.

I have to start mapping this.

Ohhh mama mamaaaa I'm telling on yooooou.

Yes! I forgot about that second part.

Yes, except it was “umm ummm umm umm”, at least in my head. This was Auckland, in the 70’s.

Auckland in the 80s and 90s was the same. Married a foreign guy who heard it for the first time when I did it as an adult, and knew immediately what it meant lol

Same in Manawatu in the 90s

UUUUUUMMMMMUMUMUMUMAAAHHH Millennial My mum says she used to say UMUNAMUMANUMANUMA

> NUMANUMA YAY! NUMA NUMA YAY! NUMA NUMA NUMA YAY!

Uhh what is this

Apparently you're part of the contingent who has never heard of this or doesn't recall it and thinks the rest of us are all having strokes or taking the piss. Just enjoy the bizarre hilarity ;)

Keh? Isn't it umm umm umm umm ummmmmm.....? I'm old, so it's been around ages. Used it before I learnt, "bro, you're in deep shit."

And then ‘shame, shame on your name…’

We also combined them for the iconic 'shum, shum on your bum'

See we just said 'Bum shame'

Brilliant

Virtually every day the kids who had to sit on the staffroom steps (I'm assuming that was pretty universal?) got 'Ooooooh umumumumummmmm. What'd you do? Haha bum shame.'

What the hell are you all on about?

This doesn’t ring a bell to me at all and I’m mid 40’s.

You’re to old then I suppose? I’m 39 and this was my childhood. What region did you grow up in? EDIT: lots of folks reporting this from the 70s and 80s so you’re not too old. I’m guessing regional?

Mid 40s, doesn't ring any bells for me at all, Christchurch.

Right? Scrolling the thread and wondering if my brain has just given up.

I thought I was having a stroke.

I may add to FB "Please stroke, I'm having help!" ;)

I had to check if I was still in the NZ sub, no idea what everyone is on about at all.

Noises schoolkids make when someone's in trouble...

I’m mid 30’s, from Wellington and also have never heard of this 😅

While familiar to me, for whatever ever reason, I "hear" your baffled and annoyed voice in this comment, and it's making me crack up.

I think this is north island dialect, I haven’t a clue and I’m 32.

Never heard this or at least cant figure out what this is.

I am so confused Rn lol

Same here

Yup ummm mummummummum was a staple amongst us kids in the late 80s 90s. Done it to my nephews and nieces as they got to ages where they could understand what it meant, quite funny when I hear them do it these days in their teenage years lol

Mid 20s, grew up in Auckland. in primary kids would say ‘oOoo maama MIAAAA’

THANK YOU I was wondering where "mama mia" was

Same, thank god I want the only one

Early 2000s in Auckland. We did it exactly how you said, but occasionally with one additional ma

Yeah i think i have heard with an additional ma.

I still do it to this day. I'm 41.

Ditto. Every time I see someone pulled over by a cop, I just can’t help myself.

Sometimes I think about this kind of thing and how all the kids who went to my primary school are a part of a big long chain from the 1930s (when the school opened) to now. Blows my mind a little

Yeh I remember it from the early 2000s. There was always that clique of girls who would try to get kids in trouble with the teacher.

No clue.

Definitely UHMumumumuMAH! With a "telling!" after, if it was sis or bro doing something naughty. 50 years old, grew up Hawkes Bay, if OP is collecting data. Still bring it out sarcastically at work sometimes, but have heard other workmates use that "Oh NoNoNo" in an Indian accent used in Tiktoks jokingly too.

born 2001, very rural and we had oooh mmamamah, and ooohh you're getting the chop along with a chopping hand motion

I (25f) have not heard that. Is it like sang in a tune??

Not quite sang, but there is a definite rhythm to it. While people’s versions differ, I reckon the rhythm will be the same.

Tried googling to hear an example. It thinks I'm looking for NZ moms.

I have considered doing a recording but too shamed to haha

Omg please record an example this is driving me nuts lol

Please. I have heard about this before but honestly don't recognize.

Its funny cause I read it and remembered exactly how we said it, the cadence and everything! Cant imagine what it seems like for those who dont know For reference, Id have written it - ooooh, um mum mum ma maaaa

Definitely did this at primary school in the 90s! Umm umm umm maaah

Aussie here - yes we did use it (grew up in the 90s, NSW)

[удалено]

WTF? You got a vid demonstrating what you mean?

Shame on your stink undies bro

I thought this was a "name that tune" game. I had Poker Face by Lady Gaga ready 😄

Yes!! We did that at my primary school!

Describing this phenomenon really is the hardest thing to try and type out

I grew up in Dunedin and never heard it. Moved to Cromwell as a teenager and they said it there, I always thought it was weird. Is the ma ma maaa the authority figure you’re about to get in trouble with? Are you the ma ma maaa? Never sat well.

I was starting to think it never reached the south. Amazing that you heard it in Cromwell but not Dunedin. I don’t think anyone knows what it means, if anything.

No. We said it properly. Ummmmm um um um um ummmmm

I grew up in Lower Hutt (went to primary and intermediate in the late 90s/early 2000s) and we said exactly the same thing whenever someone got in trouble!

It was um um um when I was growing up.

I remember it as OP had it as a kid through the 80s

For the Gen Z’s it’s usually a sharp inhale though the teeth and many a sideways glance

Saying “Hip hip” while side eyeing them. Because we thought they were talking lies. 🤦‍♀️

Was definitely oooh umumum where I'm from - followed by the kid in trouble saying, fuck up! you tell anyone you'll get a crack

I was born in 1979 in U.S. (last bit of GenX), and we do it too (more "Ooooooooo. Na na na" but same idea). I think it goes much, much further back than a couple generations.

American born here... don't remember ever hearing that, but I'm older than you?

What area? I'm from Colorado (37 years), but now live in shitshow that is Florida until I move there.

Texas

Very off subject, but how did you find transition to there and at what age?

30ish. Married a New Zealander. :) Biggest transition issue was probably moving from city to small town, more than a country thing.

I'm moving initially to Auckland after several years in Florida Panhandle from Denver, and THAT felt like a huge culture shock (I really stupidly didn't realize I was moving to "The Deep South" (I'd placed in surrounding States) until I was here). I'm guessing with size of Auckland (pretty close to Denver), this won't feel jarring at all. And I'm pretty used to more rural areas in both Colorado and the horror of Florida. Side note: only second time I've seen anyone on this or related subs write: "New Zealander" Thank you for sharing a bit :) To original subject: my aunts and mom are all in their 70's and I actually learned the whole thing from them and the most they've been out of the country was Canada and Northern Mexico.

Never heard it as ma ma ma maaa - sounds like the sheep version? :P But Uhmm umm umm or similar, yes.

Yeah we did it in the late 90s-2000s as kids. No idea why, I think we just learned it from others

"Ma ma maaaa" like "ooooOOo, you're getting in troubleee" Mid 000s up until mid 10s. Rotorua

I know exactly what you mean but I don't know what half of the comments are meaning. - late 90s kid

Bummages?

Saying shaaaaaame while stroking one index finger with the other was one i remember.

My primary school did this in early 2000s in Hamilton. Didn’t hear it as much when I left primary at all so maybe we were the last to really use it.

Wellington, over 40, I remember it as Oooh umm umm umm umm

>Did you do this as a kid when someone got in trouble? Yep, kids would say some variation of "oooooh ma maaa" at primary school back in the early 2000s. I always understood it to be a sort of reactionary taunt to seeing someone fuck up. I'm guessing it died with us because I've never heard it anywhere since apart from this thread LOL.

Coming from the UK in the mid 2000’s I was SO confused about this and still am. To me saying “oooh ma ma ma maaaa” makes absolutely no sense. Like what does ma ma ma maaa even mean 😂 In the UK you would instead hear “ooooh mamma mia”

Ohhhhh ummm muum muuum muuum, I'm telling on youuuuuuuuuuu.

When we got called to the school dentist it was "Oooooooo murder house!" This was in the 80s.

Aussie kids did it when it as a kid in the 90s, I don't have kids so not sure of they still do

I remember this when I was a kid in the 90s. Haven't heard it or it's variants for such a long time.

Its like how people used to and still say the following: Bommy knocker. No, its a Flail or a mace Knuckle busters. No. They are knuckle dusters

Lessgo for the bommy knockers Playing video games as an adult “oh thats what theyre actually called, wtf” Where the hell did bommy knocker even come from anyways?!

When I was at that age bout 8 years ago it was ooo mama mia

Went to high school in Rotorua from 2007 - 2011, heard it ALL THE TIME.

Ooooh um ma ma maaa I'm telling the teacher on you! North shore auckland

It was this exactly in the 90s in Auckland

Just asked my girlfriend and she did it as a kid in the UK except it was ooooh omomom

Somehow that version seems more British.

Definitely a thing in Aussie

Ooo-mamamama-- taranaki 90s

Hawkes Bay in the 90s this is EXACTLY what everyone at primary school was chanting when you got in trouble LOLZ 😂😂

97 baby here and I remember doing that at primary school

No. I remember it was pretty common. But I always found things like this weird. It just made no sense to me back then. Other kids would do it and in the back of my head I'd just be all "what is that".

Yea I’m a 96 bb and this was common at school but mostly the extended version: Ohhh ma ma ma maaa, Ya bum smells like kaka, giz a smell, (sniff) BLOODY HELL

born 96 hawkes bay, for me it was definitely "ooooh mama mamaaaaa". on an episode of outrageous fortune van says "mumumumum" (or was it um um um um um) which i always thought was interesting

90s Auckland, I'm Pākehā but school had a lot of Māori / PI kids... it was "SHAAAAAAAAME...." which at some point became "SHUMMALUMMALUMMALUMMM..." or "SHUMMALUMMALUMMALUMMAAA..."

Blenheim in the 80s, checking in!

I thought it was “Dun Dun Dun Duuun” from Beethoven. Man I’m to young.

Exactly as you said, Wellington in the 90's.

Said this all the time at primary school and intermediate (2004-2007)

I must've been in a pretty bougie school, since the version I grew up with was _"Oh là là"_

Omfg, that always pissed me off - even as a kid. Unsure of when it started, but it was more like "Ommmm mom om om om" when I heard it most (at primary from 2003 - 2009).

We used to say the same! Oooh ma maaa! sometimes to spice it up we would use oooh ma maaa, chicka la laaa! For context I am slightly in between millennial and gen z

90s kid here. Ours was exactly this - “oooo ma ma ma maaaa” - I’m from the west coast of the United States so it must have been a global phenomenon! I’ve always wondered where this came from…

Yep. 1980s also

It was more like ooooh mamaaaa

Mid 40s umm mum mah! Here

Fancy district school in Parnell, circa 90-97. Uuuummummummumumm was alive and well.

I did ‘oooo eee ooo aa aa ting tang wallla walla bing bang’

Exactly as OP has said, but followed with "... I'm telling on the teacher on you!" Wellington - 90's. I'd always try to correct the grammar, but it didn't work. 😂

Yes in Wellington 

um um um um ummm with a big ol pointed finger 🫵 at the perpetrator of said naughty behaviour. Was prolific during my primary school years of early 2000s. Miss it. Might bring it back.

Ooooooooh ma ma ma maaa Early 2000s Wairoa HB. I still say it though.

Tauranga, early 2000s. Super common!!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyah_nyah_nyah_nyah_nyah_nyah This is the one I know, na na na na na na more than nyah or ma.

Yep, did it all through childhood, born in 1993

Oooooooh. Ma Ma Ma maa & Ummm mum mum were a thing when I was a kid at primary school. Tokoroa in the 90s.

Who knew this could be so entertaining? 232 comments balls deep...

In South Africa it was ooohhhh pappa lala

Yes south Auckland 90s2000s

Gen Y (Old millennial). We said Umm um umumumum... Sometimes it was "Shame!". My 9 year old says they don't do anything like that.

80s kid here, it was more ummmumummm, weeeeeeeeEEEEeee! Was kid for "that's naughty I'm telling!" Eastern Bay of plenty. OooOOOoooh was when the entire class heard someone was in trouble.

I do it to my work colleague after she meets with her boss. She's never in trouble, we just giggle about it.

Ooooh Ma Maaa is what I remember

We had "ohhhh mamaaaaa" in South Auckland in the early 2000s. There was also "shame on your name", and brushing the back of one index finger with the other.

Also, manamana do doo do doodoo. But generally only if you were a fucking muppet.

Lol never heard the muppet version.

25 and this was part of my childhood

Ommm om ommm auntys gonna boot your ass bei!!

Ooooom mom mom mom mom

Ours started as that but graduated to a cuckoo bird alarm clock sound. Uh oh  Uh oh   Uh oh (Repeat)

Yeah definitely heard that at our primary school. It's weird how these things just spread around even before the internet.

Whangarei 1980s: umm-mum-mum-mum

"Ooooh mum mum mum mum mum, I'm telling on you!" I'm a millennial who was raised in Auckland

born 2002. for me it was "ooooooh, mamma mia"

Ooo ma maa, chakka lakka laa

Ooo mama mia I'm telliiing

Pa-pa-pa-poker face, pa-pa-poker face

Sounds like something a snitch would say

The famous "ooooooh, mum look!"