Why do so many people in England use mom/mommy when we're not in the US?!

[Foreverblowingbubbles18]

Just gets my goat that this seems to be happening more and more. Its MUM or MUMMY!!!

I do love it when a poster gets their arse royally handed to them on a plate.

Are you feeling a bit embarrassed Op?

I'm about as south eastern as you can get but even I know Mom is a regional word.

I've never had much say in what my kids call me. I was expecting "Mummy", but instead, I get this weird "Mummuh" thing. Although, it's hard to convey the full horror of the slow, drawn out whine "MUUUMMMMUUUHHH!".

Brrrrrr.

YABU in the midlands (or certain parts of the midlands they say mom not mum. Nowt to do with trying to sound American

Mom isn't standard in "the Midlands", it's standard in the WEST Midlands. I'm from the east Midlands and we don't use mom.

West Midlands here and I’ll add to the many others that have said it’s Mom or Mommy for me too......definitely nothing to do with the US.

I’m on the South Staffs/West Midlands border. It’s Mom around here, and my 85 year old Brummie Mom always used Mom for her mother so it’s not a new thing.

@lakesidesummer

* A mammy, also spelled mammie, is a U.S. stereotype, especially in the South, for a black woman who worked in a white family and nursed the family's children. The mammy figure is rooted in the history of slavery in the United States.*

This is one meaning of the word in the USA.

And it's a totally different meaning in the NE of England and other areas of the UK. 'Mam' or 'mammy' is equivalent to 'mum' and 'mummy'.

They don't even sound the same, even if written the same. In England I've heard it pronounced mom to rhyme with from, with a very short 'o' sound. It sounds nothing like this in America, where it's more of a 'mahm'.

I love how it varies between mum, mom and mam in the UK. Let’s keep it that way!

Ron same here.

I said mum when I was young but for some reason they both say mumma. Which I read on here the other day enrages people when they hear other people's children say it (why do people care about such trivial stuff? I suppose the op is one as well!)

@draughtycatflap

Not this again. Take your goat and piss off.

This.

Every six months or so we get this. I don't live where 'Mom' is used, I've never lived where 'Mom' is used and yet I still manage to be aware of this regional variation. Are you so blinkered you never look beyond your own personal experience?

@PinkiOcelot

Or Mam or mammy.

Really ignorant post. Loads of the North East Region say mam or mammy.

As millions of pp's have said about Birmingham area using mom I thought this was common knowledge.

You know there is more than one dialect in the UK right?

@Hotandknackered

How is that ignorant? They're saying that mam or mammy are the terms used along with mum or mummy in the UK.

Not in all parts of the midlands. The Mids isn’t just Birmingham and surrounding area. I say Mum.

^^This.

@blosstree

The pp who said it was racist is probably thinking of the US stereotype of black women in the south nursing a wealthy white family's children. It doesn't apply in the UK, it's been used in the UK in some regions for centuries to mean mother.

Except that it does. Many Black British people have an issue with term. It's one of the most common things I'm asked about when in the UK. Many find it offensive. Don't forget you guys have also had a history of slavery,discrimination and racisim

"Take your goat and piss off."

YES

I’m South African and the vast majority of English speaking South Africans use the word “mom” and did so even when my grandmother was a child.

When are some people going to grasp that the vast majority of "Americanisms" they moan about were taken to the US by immigrants and are not "Americanisms" at all

Mom/Mommy, Halloween, bridesmaids walking down the aisle first and baby showers being the main ones

I’m 41. A Brummie. Always said ‘mom’. Didn’t watch any American TV til I was around 8 (Miami Vice anyone?) so you’re very unreasonable!

Except that it does. Many Black British people have an issue with term. It's one of the most common things I'm asked about when in the UK. Many find it offensive. Don't forget you guys have also had a history of slavery,discrimination and racisim

Good luck trying to get Geordies to stop using the term mammy...

I always thought it was to do with accent anyway. Mum or mummy sounds odd/unnatural when spoken with a north east accent. Mam or mammy flows better with that particular accent. It's why Americans say mom...just try to see mum with an American accent .

^Say mum, not see mum.

It gets my goat that people don't check their facts before posting. It's well known that 'mom' is used in parts of the UK and has fuck all to do with America.

All my family - IL and birth come from slightly different bits of the midlands.

Mum, Mom and Mam are all used within our family and no one I ever met in RL has ever had an issue with it.