The proverbial " first word " of an infant often sounds like " ma " or " mama ".

Slang variants such as " yo mama ", " yo momma ", " yer ma ", " ya mum ", " your mum " or " your mom " are sometimes used, depending on the local dialect.

The song then ends in a similar fashion, the addressing a lover to tell her he's leaving her ; however, this time the singer warns " I ' ma tell you pretty mama exactly who I am, when I walk in that front door and hear that back door slam ".

However, the ancient vocative declensions have survived ( mostly in conserved, archaic words or language, e. g. in fairy tales, folklore, or in an ironic sense ) in some words, some examples: syn ( son )-V: synku, brat ( brother )-V: bratu, bratku ), chlapec ( boy, knave )-V: chlapče ), švagor ( brother-in-law )-V: švagre or N, kmotor ( godparent )-V: kmotre or N ), chlap ( man, male )-V: chlape, priateľ ( friend ) V: priateľu or N, pán ( mister, lord )-V: pane or N ), majster ( master artist )-V: majstre or N ), boh ( god )-V: bože, mama ( mum, mother )-V: mamo, mami ) and was retrofitted ( with the help of Czech influence ) to some more words, like šéf ( chief, boss )-V: šéfe.

Santos recalled in an interview once that he had to hold back tears while recording the song, since his draft papers had just arrived and he would soon have to live a situation similar to what the song's lyrics described, but that a friend started mocking him at the control booth, to which he decided to curse him on the spot, trading the word mama ' o ( an expletive in Puerto Rican Spanish ) for mamá ( mother ).

Spanish has a number of honorific forms that may be used with or as substitutes for names, such as señor or caballero (" Mr .", " Sir ", " Gentleman "); señora (" Madam ", " Mrs .", " Lady ", " ma ' am ") and señorita (" Miss ", " young lady "); licenciado for a person with bachelor's or a professional degree ( e. g., attorneys and engineers ); maestro for a teacher, master mechanic, or person with a master's degree ; doctor (" doctor "); etc.

Owing to contact with Spanish and English, mamá, papá, ma ( m ( i )), and dad or dádi are also used.