Capital M

[UnaCorda]

Just wanted to share that the word "mum", when used as a noun, does not have a capital 'm'.

It particularly doesn't have a capital 'm' when used after the words, "as a"...

(Yes, I'm bored.)

@UnaCorda

Do the people who think I'm being unreasonable:

a) Think I'm wrong about the grammar? (I'm not.)
b) Think mothers are more important than non-mothers and should therefore always have a capital letter?
c) Think it's not worth worrying about? (Fair enough, but I did say I'm bored.)

Just because something is important (producing all human life) doesn't mean you aren't important doing whatever you do. You can collect capital letters if it floats your boat.

Me having one doesn't actually reflect on you.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Will nobody think of the fathers?

You didn't. You came on Mumsnet to object to Mums getting a capital letter. Not Dads.

And it's mums/dads.

I think there’s a possibility that the capitalisation is done by autocorrect on the person’s phone, and not to imply that women who aren’t mothers are lesser people than mothers.

I picked 'C'
It's clear that you're bored.

Steff13. That’s how I was taught to remember it.

Capital, capital! More Jane Austen than Enid Blyton.

Also, not everyone with the title Mum has got that through giving birth.

Yes, good point.

Not quite sure specifically what you meant about patriarchy.

I loved Enid Blyton.
My favourite was Mallory Towers.
Can't remember Daryl Rivers mums' name though.

Anyone? (Apart from being Mrs Rivers)

And it's mums/dads.

And it's fairly obvious I did that on purpose.

DH has an engineering ring. Only Canadian engineers get one. I have been housing vulnerable people for 30 years. Does his ring mean his job is important and mine isn't? No. Unless I was a narcissist who made everything about me.

Replacing with a name is a great way of teaching someone to remember when to capitalise - I shall try and commit that to memory.

Does it feel like women with the status of 'mother' are given more value as human beings? That must really sting if that is your experience and yet you have been unable to become a mother yourself despite wanting to. However, I would say that often many mothers feel the same thing - that their status as a human being in their own right has diminished and they are seen as merely as vessel for procreation. It probably depends who you are surrounded by in life.

@UnaCorda

Do the people who think I'm being unreasonable:

a) Think I'm wrong about the grammar? (I'm not.)
b) Think mothers are more important than non-mothers and should therefore always have a capital letter?
c) Think it's not worth worrying about? (Fair enough, but I did say I'm bored.)

A word having a capitol letter doesn't mean being a mother is more important than not being a mother

What kind of shit are you on OP because this is wild

@MsWonderful

I think there’s a possibility that the capitalisation is done by autocorrect on the person’s phone, and not to imply that women who aren’t mothers are lesser people than mothers.

Definitely possible (although that doesn't negate that pronatalism exists).

@potter5

I loved Enid Blyton. My favourite was Mallory Towers. Can't remember Daryl Rivers mums' name though.

Anyone? (Apart from being Mrs Rivers)

You should watch the recent BBC adaptation - it might still be on iPlayer. The girl who played Daryl was excellent (although some of the more minor characters weren't very well acted imo).

Does it feel like women with the status of 'mother' are given more value as human beings?

Yes, it does. By friends and family, as well as by society as a whole.

That must really sting if that is your experience and yet you have been unable to become a mother yourself despite wanting to.

Yep. Thank you for understanding.

According to the BBC you are wrong - it can have a capital letter if you are referring to your actual mum by her name of Mum. See this link

If I said, "I am going to lunch with Mum", it would need a capital letter, but "I am going to lunch with my mum" does not.

@MissTemple

Steff13. That’s how I was taught to remember it.

Capital, capital! More Jane Austen than Enid Blyton.

Yes, you may be right there!

Hi op. When you're talking about a mum then there is no capital. If it is their name, then there is a capital. So my mother is called Mum.

@BlueJava

According to the BBC you are wrong - it can have a capital letter if you are referring to your actual mum by her name of Mum. See this link

If I said, "I am going to lunch with Mum", it would need a capital letter, but "I am going to lunch with my mum" does not.

I'm not wrong because that's exactly what I said!

@Lelophants

Hi op. When you're talking about a mum then there is no capital. If it is their name, then there is a capital. So my mother is called Mum.

Yes.

I think this is one of the most absurd complaints I have ever heard on here. People who use a capital M for 'mum' may do so for a number of reasons. Some being, for example, they feel their mum is important and so deserves it, they are just not sure, their phone auto corrected it, they can't differentiate between the noun and the proper noun. If I had fifty guesses at why someone might use a capital M when writing mum I wouldn't get to them doing it to 'other' or make feel 'less than' People are not mother's. There we go, I've given you your own capital letter now so you don't feel so 'othered' and offended by someone choosing to write mum with a capital m.

Your identity isn’t anyone’s problem but yours. We are not about to change our language in order to accommodate you.

@MrsTerryPratchett

And it's mums/dads.

And it's fairly obvious I did that on purpose.

DH has an engineering ring. Only Canadian engineers get one. I have been housing vulnerable people for 30 years. Does his ring mean his job is important and mine isn't? No. Unless I was a narcissist who made everything about me.

Sorry, I didn't realise you'd done it on purpose.

No, it (the ring) doesn't mean that, and I did say people may not consciously mean that when they write, "I am a Mum of three", but that societal attitude (of mothers being more important) is not just in my imagination.

@BoggledBudgie

Your identity isn’t anyone’s problem but yours. We are not about to change our language in order to accommodate you.

"We" being mothers and "you" being not mothers, I suppose.

Thank you for that textbook example of othering.

Anyway, the English language doesn't have to change to keep me happy so long as it's used correctly.

Can you please provide evidence that this is a societal attitude rather than your imagination? @UnaCorda

(Frankly I consider over a quarter of people on a site for mothers voting YANBU a bit of a win...)

Is God, God regardless?

I'm sure I was taught in Sunday school to never, ever lowercase God. Ever.

God is great.
I think that believing in a God is outdated.

I just can't risk my soul.