hostess with mostess or mostest

[weirdo]

whaich 1 is true? and what does it mean either way?

thanks

[Clanad]

The OED2 lists a quotation "hostess with the mostest" under mostest, dialectal and jocular. The citation is from the Daily Herald, 25 March 1958. Generally attributed to Jimmy Durante, an American entertainer, describing a well known hostess of large party's of the time, Perle Mesta. This would have been in the 1940's. Simple explanation is that Perle Mesta hosted the best parties to which all the "A" list people aspired... hence the hostess with the mostest. Durante was wll known for his "murdering" of the English language, so it's entirely possible he used "mostess" as a funny bon mot...

[Big Al1st]

Elsa Maxwell was a New York socialite who was famous for her parties to such an extent that she became known as the Hostess with the Mostest.

The musical "Call me Madam" was loosely based on her life, the film version starred Ethel Merman in about 1953.

If my memory serves me correct Elsa died around 1963.

[Kingaroo]

"Mostest" is a funny way of exaggerating the word "most" to rhyme with "hostess."