[Vocabulary] Mosettes

[emp0608]

Hi folks,
Could anybody tell me what "Mosettes" mean in the following sentence?
"You think we're happy having to gargle next to Grandma Moses and the Mosettes?"

 

[jutfrank]

We need more context to know.

It seems to refer to a group of minimum two people, female, and in some way associated with Grandma Moses. It's likely meant to be mildly mocking.

You must provide the source, and much more context, for all sentences you ask about.

 

[SoothingDave]

It's supposed to be funny, like a the name of a Motown singing group.

 

[emp0608]

It's from The Golden Girls Season 2, Episode 8. A little longer context is :

B: Why, I'm not sharing a bathroom with three strange men. I don't care if it is my vacation.
Ri: You've got no choice, lady. There just aren't enough johns.
D: Oh, this is ridiculous.
Ri: Oh, yeah? You think we're happy having to gargle next to Grandma Moses and the Mosettes?
R: You… you… you rude person.
D: Go easy on him, Rose.

 

[SoothingDave]

And "Grandma Moses" is meant to indicate that they are old. Very old.

 

[jutfrank]

Okay, the context makes it very clear now.

Grandma Moses and the Mosettes refers to Blanche (Grandma Moses) and the other two golden girls Dorothy and Rose. It's meant to be mildly mocking, not least with respect to the girls' advanced years.

 

[emp0608]

I know Rick refers to the three golden girls. But I've never heard of this expression. I wanted to know where it came from. Was it a title of a TV program or something?
The same expression is used in an article referring to a Democratic Convention: The event last night was not a “debate.” It was like a really bad variety show skit you might see at the Democratic National Convention: Grandma Moses And The Mosettes. Here’s my overall assessment of the participants:

 

[SoothingDave]

I shouldn't have to tell you who Moses was. So the idea that Moses-related things are ancient is common.

As for the specific line in the article about "and the Mosettes," the most plausible explanation is that the person who wrote the article was borrowing the phrase from the TV episode. Making a reference to it. An inside joke to other people who had seen the show.

 

[GoesStation]

The line is about Grandma Moses, the elderly folk artist, not Moses, the prophet.

It's not an expression. The screenwriter invented it.

 

[emp0608]

I doubt it was invented by the screenwriter. The same phrase is used in the book God's Noggin Nudgers by K. B. Hykes:What about the ultimate test of patience-driving behind 'Grandma Moses and the Mosettes!?" Yes, God bless them. Few of us have been exempt from getting behind a sweet elderly driver when we're in a hurry.

 

[Skrej]

The affix -'ette' can be used as either a diminutive version (i.e. kitchenette), female version (i.e. bachelorette), or a faux version of something (i.e. leatherette).

Here in the Golden Girls episode it's being used in the 2nd sense, but only because it's a verbal play off the dancing company known as the "Rockettes". They're a famous performing group that has been around since the1920's, known for their choreographed dance lines.

 

[GoesStation]

I doubt it was invented by the screenwriter. The same phrase is used in the book "God's Noggin Nudgers" by K. B. Hykes….

That book was published in 2002, twenty years after the final episode of The Golden Girls. It's quite likely Hykes first heard the phrase on the program. But its precise origin doesn't matter; it's just a bit of wordplay based on the long-established form Xxx and the Xxx-ettes, as in Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks, featuring the Lickettes.