What's with everyone writing 'Mom?'

[Ottersmith]

Why is everyone writing Mom in their thread instead of 'mum'? Are you American? Are you from the Midlands? If neither of these then stop doing it. It's everywhere and it's so annoying.

Some Americans in the Northeast do use "mum" and "mummy." It's associated with upper class people who often spoke a form of mid-Atlantic English, but I think it is less prevalent these days.

John and Caroline Kennedy called Jackie "Mummy."

I have personally known a couple of families from New England who used "mum" and "mummy."

People shouldn't be annoyed. I doubt anyone reasonable would be. People keen to take offence might be though.

TBF you were asking me to discuss "Irish people living in Northern Ireland" and that really is a group well beyond my ken! So I doubt many are missing my input! 😃

Ohm is pronounced with more of and ‘or’ or perhaps ‘au’ sound, not ‘though’.

So when Brummies are saying ‘cup’ or ‘mum’ they pronounce it more like caup/corp or maum/morm.

Well said.

And thankfully, people not under the Dunning-Kruger effect do just that.

I was going to link a lovely video of David Crystal explaining exactly that (in his very non-standard pronunciation, and at times, grammar) but I don't want our greatest living linguist being accused of using his own language incorrectly. 😂 Though I'm sure he'd find it quite funny.

To be very clear @DreamDictionary Mam is spelt M-a-m in Ireland.
Mum isn't widely used and those who do use it spell it M-u-m. They do not pronounce it mam.

That confirms what I thought - they are two different words.

With the same sound as "cow" or "door"?

I'd like to hear some Brummies' take on that tbh. It's not something I've come across but I've lived in the East Midlands, north west and south east. I've always understood a Brummie "u" to be the same as most northern ones. The same as the /u/ in book etc. /buk/

Apparently Prince George calls Catherine - Momma

Better get the King onto him about that appalling abuse of the Kings English

Charlotte used mummy and Louis uses mama.

TBF you were asking me to discuss "Irish people living in Northern Ireland" and that really is a group well beyond my ken! So I doubt many are missing my input! 😃

I wasn't asking you to discuss them.

I was wondering why you didn't include NI in the UK.

And Mom is a third different word.

Yes. If "mam" is a different word, then so is "mom."

But what did you mean by this then?

"Or to get a bit annoyed that people are making this silly argument - claiming that because people from the Midlands informally use an American spelling for one word, it follows that there isn’t a definitive spelling across the UK for that word"

No, you asked about Irish people living in Northern Ireland.
I know that NI is part of the UK. I havent been living under a rock 🤣I think you misread what I wrote but if you wouldnt mind just reviewing all my past posts for me and quoting the offensive bits that would be super helpful as I cant spend that time myself. I'm sure you are spot on in what you say and quite right to take offence though.

Anyway, lets give it a whirl and see if I can come up with some thoughts for you! I haven't been to Northern Ireland sadly so cant really comment on the Irish living there. Apologies . I have been to Ireland though. Dublin once many years ago. I didn't cause any trouble or bother.. I probably won't go back but it was perfectly fine. I can't remember anything anyone said though to be helpful about words used as I was quite drunk most of the time? It was fun!

So, do you think, if you asked a Brummie to read out the two following sentences, there would be an audible difference between the two?

1. ”Bye mum, see you later!”
2. ”Bye mom, see you later!”

I think they would sound identical because it is not two different words, it is a different spelling of the same word. One is the UK spelling, the other is the USA spelling.

I'll let the Brummies speak for themselves, but do you think Americans are saying Mom, meaning Mum? But that Irish people say Mam meaning Mam? Because to me they're three distinct words with the same meaning.

Exactly…

I explained upthread.

I know a fair number of families who use the terms mama and momma (upper midwest).

Grandparents come with a wide variety of pet names too.

What?

These are distinct words here, spelled and pronounced differently.

So you think that Brummies pronounce “mum” and “mom” differently?

I explained upthread.

You think that people who say "mom" should spell it as "mum" because it is merely a difference in pronunciation? But "mam" is a different word?

It's ignorant, though, and since the people insisting mum is standard and mom is American tend to be English, then there's a case for use of the term Little Englander. That term generally defines people who have trouble wrapping their heads around the linguistic and cultural diversity of the UK, among other mental blocks.

There is no standard spelling.
Mam and Mom are not mispronunciations of Mum.
Mam and Mom are not informal spellings of the alleged 'standard spelling'.
Mom is not a purely American term, nor is it an American spelling, imported in the last fifty years, or whenever.

It has been used in the UK, including regions of England, for centuries. From the UK, it migrated to the American colonies, later known as the US.

No. In the UK, ‘mum’ is spelled ‘mum’. Americans spell the work differently. They use ‘mom’.

People pronounce the word ‘mum’ differently all over the UK in a way that is consistent with the way they pronounce the letter ‘u’ according to their accent.

However, the word ‘mam’ or ‘mammy’ is inconsistent with the way people pronounce the letter ‘u’ in regions where they use the word ‘mam’. For example, Liverpudlians say ‘cup’ with an ‘oh’ sound, and Irish people use more of an ‘ah’ sound, whereas ‘mam’ has that ‘aaa’ like a sheep’s baa. So it is a different word, more consistent with ‘mama’ than ‘mum’.

I didn't misread.

Here you go

You said:
Our language changes all the time (ignoring the Irish for these purposes as this is a UK site).

I said:
Umm, what about the Irish people in Northern Ireland @Workasateamanddoitmyway?
Do they not count?

NB: I did not ask you to discuss the Irish in NI or their language. I wondered why you didn't think they counted as part of the UK.