big mo

See also: Big Mo

English

Alternative forms

• Big Mo

Etymology

Clipping of big momentum. Famously used by George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) during his quest for the Republican nomination to run for president of the United States in 1980.

Noun

the big mo

1. (chiefly US, informal) Large-scale momentum.
   • 2000 July 16, Jeff Macgregor, “Saving the World, One Sexy Teen at a Time”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     The "Maury" show is, to quote a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, this season's "biggest success story" in syndicated daytime television. The show's ratings are up some 19 percent since last year, and it now occasionally outpoints the popular "Rosie O'Donnell Show" in the same time slot here in New York. This "daytime yakker" has got the "big mo," they say.

   • 2004 September 9, Elisabeth Bumiller, Philip Shenon, “Bush Now Backs Budget Powers in New Spy Post”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     "The Big Mo is behind the McCain-Lieberman bill, and the next steps by the White House are still murky," said Representative Jane Harman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who attended the White House meeting.

Further reading

• “(the) big mo” in Oxford Learner's Dictionaries