Literal translation
good mother!
Meaning
an exclamation of surprise, anger, or impatience
Explanation
The exclamation invokes maire or mèro, mother, preceded by the feminine form of the adjective bon, bouano, in a popular formula of invocation reminiscent, in its construction, of other calls addressed to a protective figure. Like many interjections of this kind, it is not meant to be taken word for word in actual use: it simply expresses strong emotion, whether surprise, anger, or impatience, without the literal content of the invocation being really thought through at the moment it is uttered. It bursts out spontaneously in the face of an annoying setback, shocking news, or a sudden moment of exasperation, somewhat the way other languages invoke a sacred or familiar figure in a moment of feeling. The register is very familiar and purely oral, typical of the mild oaths and unthinking exclamations inherited from a long Provençal oral tradition of near-ritual invocations.