and speaking about mother insults:

shakespeare used them too!
In Timon Of Athens, Act 1 Scene 1 : (some cranky no standard play)

Painter: "Y'are a dog."
Apemantus: "Thy mother's of my generation. What's she, if I be a dog?"

its a pity he never used it in his merchant of venices and stuff but in some obscure crap we dont even get to to study in school.

Think of the Exciting Possibilities: a lesson on yo mama swearwords.

Raffles Institution- Nurturing the Thinker, Leader, and Pioneer.

anyway, back to the topic:

Use as a retort

"Your mom" is also sometimes used as a sarcastic retort to either a mild criticism or even an innocuous statement. This often results in a sexual innuendo, as in the following example:


Speaker 1: What are you doing?
Speaker 2: Your mom.

The classic "Your Momma" joke follows this guideline: Your momma is so (blank) she (blank), in which the first blank is substituted for fat, stupid, etc., and the second is an example of the first blank.

Example 1: Yo momma is so stupid, she put a quarter in a parking meter and waited for a gumball.