English

Verb

di di mau or di-di mau ‎(defective verb)

1. To leave quickly, hurry away.
   • 1978, The Deer Hunter:

     [quotation needed]

   • 1984, Wallace Terry, Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War, Random House, ISBN 0394530284, page 171:

     And if a Vietnamese, be it man, woman, or child, refused to di di mau or tried to get away, the authorization was to go ’head and shoot ’em.

   • 1995, Nicholas Warr, Phase Line Green: The Battle for Hue, 1968, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 1591149215, page 18:

     “ […] No contact with any gooks. They just blew the bridges and di-di mau’d.” Since I knew that di-di means “go,” and that mau means “fast,” I knew that the VC had made themselves scarce.

   • 2000, “Skinner’s Sense of Snow” (television episode), The Simpsons, December 17, 2000:

     "What part of "Di di Mau" don't you understand, Skinner?"

   • 2002, Nelson DeMille, Up country: a novel, ISBN 0739422987, page 138:

     “ […] Di di mau!” which means get moving, and is not very polite. I started to turn away, then I had a good idea that would make everyone happy.

   • 2016, Better Call Saul (television series), Season 2, Episode 8, Fifi:

     “Oh, and point me to your best copier.” “Best copier?” “Yeah. Best copier. C’mon. Di di mau.”

References

• “di di mau” in Encarta World English Dictionary, North American Edition.
• Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary Vietnamese/English
• Dictionary of Marine Corps Terms and Words Used in Vietnam