Mom [OT]

"David Stevenson" wrote in message
...
Karen wrote
Yup. We call our "Mums" "Mom" or sometimes when younger "Mama" (though my
siblings and I held on to that one for a long time actually.) "Mother" is
generally held for referral use only OR when aggravated by said parent.

"Mums" and "Mama" sound fine to me.

I always thought it was weird to call your granfather, who was always
"Grandad" to me, "Pops", and grandmothers, who were I always thought should
be called "Nana", a bit off-putting to be called "Gran". But thats the
Aussie way of doing things. I wouldn't do it myself, being raised English,
but cant fault other people. Its really a *name* rather than a title anyway.
I couldn't call my mother anything other than "Mum" despite the fact I know
her full name, and she calls me "Victoria". Everyone else calls me Vicky.

My mother's friend is referred to as "Suggie" by all her grandchildren. I
have no idea why, but thats what she's know as and will be forever so in the
eyes of those children.

"Mom" doesn't bother me, thats what people use. I couldn't call my mother
"Mom" because she's "Mum" but have no probs with other peole adopting
familiar names for their closest relatives.

(And it always cracks me up that Joel's family always calls his younger
brother 'Bubs' despit ethe fact the poor man is going on 25 and would beat
the stuffing out of anyone who called him "Bubs" except, of couse, for his
brother and sister. In Joel's family, his name is simply "Bubs", despite
having a perfectly good Christian name that everyone else uses - including
me)

Yowie

Annie Wxill wrote:

Mum or Mummy is rarely, if ever used here. I guess it's more a
European usage.

My sisters and I referred to our mother as "mum", NEVER "mom". And
we're not British. I never knew anyone who said "mom" when I was young.
That sounded hopelessly pretentious to us.

This could be a regional-USA thing. I'm from the Boston area, which has
retained a lot of Britishisms from the colonial era, eg, pronouncing
words like "bath" as "bahth", "aunt" as "ahnt", etc. And of course,
dropping r's - veddy veddy British.

On the other hand, we *addressed* our mother as "ma", especially when
calling her from another room: "MAAAA!!!!" Not "mama" - just "ma". Don't
know where that one came from, but my father used to say we sounded like
a bunch of sheep.

Since I've been living in California, I've heard a lot more people refer
to their mothers as "mom", or call them "mom" when "mom" is visiting.
Maybe those people are from the midwest or something. I never knew so
many midwesterners before I moved out here. I guess if they want to move
to a coast, the west coast is more appealing, at least climatically. All
of a sudden I started hearing all these midwestern accents and expressions,
which I hardly ever heard living in Boston.

Joyce

"Mom" and "Mommy" are American. "Mum" and "Mummy" are British. I don't
know why the American terms would bother you. The British ones
certainly don't upset me.

--
Joy

Life is what happens to you while you are planning to do something else.


"David Stevenson" wrote in message
...

I find it most annoying when little brats in American TV series
refer
to "My Mom" or say something sick-making like "I love my Mom".

What I am curious about is the word 'Mom'. Is that what children
actually say? for that matter do they say that yucky word in England
nowadays?

If anyone wonders what my problem is then I learnt 'Mum' and
'Mummy'
and never heard this word 'Mom' until a few years ago.

--
David Stevenson Storypage:
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Liverpool, England, UK Emails
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I still call my 92-year-old mother "Mama", and that's what both my kids
(40 and 46) call me. My brother calls my mother "Mother", which
irritates her no end.

--
Joy

Life is what happens to you while you are planning to do something else.


"Karen" wrote in message
...
Yup. We call our "Mums" "Mom" or sometimes when younger "Mama" (though
my
siblings and I held on to that one for a long time actually.) "Mother"
is
generally held for referral use only OR when aggravated by said
parent.

Karen

"David Stevenson" wrote in message
...

I find it most annoying when little brats in American TV series
refer
to "My Mom" or say something sick-making like "I love my Mom".

What I am curious about is the word 'Mom'. Is that what children
actually say? for that matter do they say that yucky word in
England
nowadays?

If anyone wonders what my problem is then I learnt 'Mum' and
'Mummy'
and never heard this word 'Mom' until a few years ago.

--
David Stevenson Storypage:
http://blakjak.com/sty_menu.htm
Liverpool, England, UK Emails
welcome
Nanki Poo: SI Bp+W B 10 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P B+ PA+
PL+ SC
Minke: SI W+Cp B 1 Y++ L-- W- C+

"Kreisleriana" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 13:31:08 -0600, "Karen"
yodeled:


"David Stevenson" wrote in message
...
Karen wrote
Yup. We call our "Mums" "Mom" or sometimes when younger "Mama"
(though my
siblings and I held on to that one for a long time actually.)
"Mother" is
generally held for referral use only OR when aggravated by said
parent.

"Mums" and "Mama" sound fine to me.

Now here is the real question. How do you spell Mama? I have seen so
many
variations over the years. Momma is how we spelled it growing up, but
there
is also mama and mamma.

Karen



Also, do you promounce it MAma, with the stress on the first syllable
(down home- like) or MaMA, with the stress on the second (upper
clahss-like).

Theresa
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal
claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply
disgraceful.
(Aldous Huxley)

In my family we spell it "Mama" and pronounce it "MAma".

Joy

"David Stevenson" wrote in message
...
Kreisleriana wrote
On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 17:12:00 +0000 (UTC), David Stevenson
yodeled:


I find it most annoying when little brats in American TV series
refer
to "My Mom" or say something sick-making like "I love my Mom".


I'm 43 years old, and I refer to "my mom." Exactly what is wrong
with
that? What you you call your mom? "Mater"?

Mum, mummy.

I thought I said that?

--
David Stevenson Storypage:


You did, but you didn't explain what is wrong with "Mom" or "Mommy".

Joy

"David Stevenson" wrote in message
...
JBHajos wrote
I find it most annoying when little brats in American TV series
refer
to "My Mom" or say something sick-making like "I love my Mom".

Oh, my!!! Most children, brats or not, call their mothers "Mom"
here. We don't think it's any worse than "Mum" which we'd never
criticize. (In fact, I think it's charming.) My 93-year-old mother
was "Mom" to us to her dying day. I am Mom to all seven of my
children, sons- and daughters-in-law, friends of the kids, and, in
one
instance, the US Postal Service!! Wouldn't have it any other way!
Sorry it's offensive "over there."

I never said it was offensive "over here".

--
David Stevenson Storypage:
http://blakjak.com/sty_menu.htm

You said it was annoying and made you sick. That sounds pretty
offensive to me. In fact, I found your comment offensive.

Joy

"Sherry " wrote in message
...
Yes, my "Dad" is and always will be Daddy. Even now after he has died
we
refer to him as Daddy. Now, what really confused me as a child was
that Mom
called Daddy Daddy and Daddy called Mom Mom or Mama when talking to
us or
each other. It really was a big shock to me when I got older and they
reverted more to using each others name! I know, I was a fairly dim
child it
seems.

Karen

My kids call us Mom and Dad. My DH's parents are Ma and Pa. (that's
pretty
old-fashioned sounding, isn't it)
We've already discussed the grandparent-thing. I will *not* be
anybody's
Mee-moo and DH says he's not gonna be anybody's Papaw.

Sherry

My Dad's parents were Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma was not the nicest
person in the world, to put it politely. When my first baby was due
(I'm older than my siblings), my mother decided she and my Dad would be
Gammy and Gampy. That's how my kids still refer to them.

Joy

Oh it's not *offensive* per se - but it is downright annoying
when British kids start saying it instead of "Mum" because
they've heard it too often on tv.

It's like a Cockney accent is perfectly acceptable for a kid
in London - but when Glasgow kids start using "teef" instead
of "teeth" and losing their Rs for Ws, because they watch
too much EastEnders, it's not funny anymore.

I know what you mean :-)

Perhaps we should take a leaf from the French, who actively seek to protect the
French language. They place limits on the amount of non-French "culture" that
is in the French media.

Mind you, I'd be upset if that meant I'd have to forego re-runs of Frasier ;-)

Cheers, helen s



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Hopitus2 does not watch "little brats" of any origin on tv, but prefers
science fiction pretty much, where no one calls parents anything at all,
because there just *ain't any*. Brit actors are rare in sci-fi tv, Patrick
Stewart, a Yorkshire boy, excepted. However, my other preference, food
channel, proliferates with them. Hopitus2 does not find it annoying that
comprehending the nonstop patter of the Naked Chef, Jamie, who once in a
long time refers to his "mum", is very difficult and I only understand every
few words, because regardless of his origin, he mumbles as well. Still not
annoying; he's charming and innovatively clever! There's some old dude who
travels around the world, a Brit, who talks kinda like a famous English news
commentator of WWII days; he seeks out unusual recipes and foods. Much
easier to understand than Jamie (I think he's of a higher class than
Jamie....we are aware there *are* and always will be "classes" across the
pond) but why should I be annoyed because Brits have "classes", more
sophisticated and subtle than India's "caste" system, but still not the USA
overt social system. May I offer the fact that high tolerance for annoyance
factors will lower one's blood pressure in the long run, generally, and add
to one's wellbeing. AFAIK, tv biographies of the English kings of old are
extremely fascinating to me, they explain so much of Brit history, but
should I get annoyed watching, say, Henry VIII's method of dealing with
unwanted wives? Wonder what Henry called his mother.....probably "mum".
ROFL. Two USA phrases come to mind re this long thread: either "to each his
own".....or..."get over it", hee hee.







"Yoj" wrote in message
nk.net...
: "Mom" and "Mommy" are American. "Mum" and "Mummy" are British. I don't
: know why the American terms would bother you. The British ones
: certainly don't upset me.
:
: --
: Joy
:
: Life is what happens to you while you are planning to do something else.
:
:
: "David Stevenson" wrote in message
: ...
:
: I find it most annoying when little brats in American TV series
: refer
: to "My Mom" or say something sick-making like "I love my Mom".
:
: What I am curious about is the word 'Mom'. Is that what children
: actually say? for that matter do they say that yucky word in England
: nowadays?
:
: If anyone wonders what my problem is then I learnt 'Mum' and
: 'Mummy'
: and never heard this word 'Mom' until a few years ago.
:
: --
: David Stevenson Storypage:
: http://blakjak.com/sty_menu.htm
: Liverpool, England, UK Emails
: welcome
: Nanki Poo: SI Bp+W B 10 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P B+ PA+ PL+
: SC
: Minke: SI W+Cp B 1 Y++ L-- W- C+
:
: