Page 6 | To want Brits to spell 'mum' the British way?

Needmorelego · 07/10/2025 23:54

HeyThereDelila · 07/10/2025 23:52

Every Brit spells it Mum, except in the West Mids where by long standing convention it’s Mom.

Except those Brits who spell it Mam.
Obviously.

ElaineBurdock · 07/10/2025 23:59

I'm originally from the east Midlands and spent a lot of time in the west midlands as I had a boyfriend who lived there, and I never heard 'mom' uttered, not once. Mind you I left the UK in the early 1970's. I was very surprised to hear 'mom' now used in the UK.

I read other things have changed in the UK, such as Halloween trick or treating. That is also copied from Americans. There used to be All Hallows Eve parties that involved apple bobbing and such, maybe a witch burning, but no trick or treating.

While I'm on a roll; prom dresses! I read on mums net people are buying prom dresses. What is all this about? Do you have Prom night there now, and High School graduations? How about homecoming dances, prep rallies, and homecoming footballs game, do you have them there now? Please tell me you don't.

I do see you have Black Friday sales/shopping now. In the U.S. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, which marks the start of Christmas shopping. Do you have Thanksgiving Dinner there now? It's got something to do with Pilgrims you know.

Now I'm really warming up.

Are there still Harvest Festivals, and how about Maypole dancing on every English common? I hope they haven't done away with the stocks on the village green, or the ducking stools. If that happens, England will be overrun with wrong 'uns pinching rabbits or even bloomers off washing lines, and the old scolds and witches will go unpunished.

I think the last couple of generations have blurred American and British culture together. It's almost as if they don't know the difference between the two anymore. It makes me sad really. And it all started with the word 'mom'.

VimesandhisCardboardBoots · 08/10/2025 00:04

My Mom was from Birmingham, so I called her Mom, because that's what she'd called her Mom.

DD is Welsh, so DP is Mam to her.

To us, Mum is the regional variation.

suki1964 · 08/10/2025 00:07

Mammy / Mum where I am and whilst I think its a bit weird , it is what it is and who am I too judge

One thing about Mom is, I do automatically think the poster is from USA/ Canada

Juniperberry55 · 08/10/2025 00:07

ElaineBurdock · 07/10/2025 23:59

I'm originally from the east Midlands and spent a lot of time in the west midlands as I had a boyfriend who lived there, and I never heard 'mom' uttered, not once. Mind you I left the UK in the early 1970's. I was very surprised to hear 'mom' now used in the UK.

I read other things have changed in the UK, such as Halloween trick or treating. That is also copied from Americans. There used to be All Hallows Eve parties that involved apple bobbing and such, maybe a witch burning, but no trick or treating.

While I'm on a roll; prom dresses! I read on mums net people are buying prom dresses. What is all this about? Do you have Prom night there now, and High School graduations? How about homecoming dances, prep rallies, and homecoming footballs game, do you have them there now? Please tell me you don't.

I do see you have Black Friday sales/shopping now. In the U.S. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, which marks the start of Christmas shopping. Do you have Thanksgiving Dinner there now? It's got something to do with Pilgrims you know.

Now I'm really warming up.

Are there still Harvest Festivals, and how about Maypole dancing on every English common? I hope they haven't done away with the stocks on the village green, or the ducking stools. If that happens, England will be overrun with wrong 'uns pinching rabbits or even bloomers off washing lines, and the old scolds and witches will go unpunished.

I think the last couple of generations have blurred American and British culture together. It's almost as if they don't know the difference between the two anymore. It makes me sad really. And it all started with the word 'mom'.

Mom is not new in the west Midlands. It isn't a blurring of cultures, it's not a case of not realising we're using an American word, it's a British words used in this area. I imagine the use of mom in America originated from it's use here

Vodkamartini3olives · 08/10/2025 00:09

Yay it's the quarterly 'mom' thread with a side of Eww America!. Next up Halloween 🎃

Happyjoe · 08/10/2025 00:14

HeyThereDelila · 07/10/2025 23:52

Every Brit spells it Mum, except in the West Mids where by long standing convention it’s Mom.

Even a local newspaper?

UnctuousUnicorns · 08/10/2025 00:16

I attended a Leavers' Ball when I left school. Back then prom was just the short word for that stroll you took beside the sea.

Calliopespa · 08/10/2025 00:19

soupyspoon · 07/10/2025 22:14

And its macaroni cheese

No, no, no! Only when my mum or grandmother makes it!

It doesn't taste as good if you call it that!

Mac 'n' cheese like fish 'n' chips.

Similarly spaghetti bolognaise always has a very mincey sauce. Spag bol, however, is rich, tomatoey and winey.

Avantiagain · 08/10/2025 00:22

In my family it is mom. In dh's family it is mam. No mums.

Happyjoe · 08/10/2025 00:22

Juniperberry55 · 07/10/2025 23:48

Mum is the most commonly used version, so more likely to be written in most places, it doesn't mean mom or mam are new or Americanisms. Just regional differences

Show quote history

I was always under the impression that it was more American, never heard it growing up, parents came from London and Peterlee.

In the UK, 'mum' was printed on mothers day cards, mum b'day cards etc, in newspapers, in magazines, in books (most books!). The same for Mom in the USA.
So fair assumption for many that mum is the UK version.

Sportsdaywinner · 08/10/2025 00:32

35965a · 07/10/2025 22:17

West Midlands is Mom, so that is also ‘the British way.’

Not all of the West Midlands is mom, here in Coventry we use mum.
Birmingham is mom

Sportsdaywinner · 08/10/2025 00:33

My mum always says mam but her family came from up north

Gagaandgag · 08/10/2025 00:34

Needmorelego · 07/10/2025 22:17

Oh dear. You've just insulted everyone from Birmingham and the West Midlands.
There is no "British" way.
It's all down to accents.
Mum
Mom
Mam
Ma
Mama
All normal. All acceptable.

👍🏻

mathanxiety · 08/10/2025 00:47

You mean 'The Way We Say It In Our Very Parochial Part Of England' when you say 'British'.

mathanxiety · 08/10/2025 00:50

Vodkamartini3olives · 08/10/2025 00:09

Yay it's the quarterly 'mom' thread with a side of Eww America!. Next up Halloween 🎃

With those ghastly newfangled proms hot on the heels of Hallowe'en!

mathanxiety · 08/10/2025 00:54

Wherethewildthingsfart · 07/10/2025 23:35

Surely it’s Mother if we are being all British ‘now-a-days’?

Whatever happened to Mater, or Dear Mamahhhh...

mathanxiety · 08/10/2025 00:55

DelphiniumBlue · 07/10/2025 23:30

I think you’ll find the term “Brits” is an Americanism.
Most people in Britain would call themselves British, or more likely Welsh/Scottish/English/Irish. I’ve never heard anyone call themselves a Brit.

No, Brits is an Irish term. As in 'Brits Out'.

Hiptothisjive · 08/10/2025 00:58

BitOutOfPractice · 07/10/2025 22:22

4 million British people live on the West Midlands. Most say and spell it mom. I am a mom. I have a mom. I do not have a mum and my Kids have never called me mum, even though they were born and raised in se England.

We exported mom to the USA. Not the other way round. We pronounce it to rhyme with bomb. Not the mawn type sound of the American mom.

Just imagine op that the world doesn’t end at the end of your street. Imagine that!

And to double down it was also exported to Canada where we say mom. Not everything is just an Americanism.

Hiptothisjive · 08/10/2025 01:01

DelphiniumBlue · 07/10/2025 23:30

I think you’ll find the term “Brits” is an Americanism.
Most people in Britain would call themselves British, or more likely Welsh/Scottish/English/Irish. I’ve never heard anyone call themselves a Brit.

In the same way Brits say for example I’m going to America. Not common in Canada or the US where we would say the States. Always seems a bit crass to me..:.

mathanxiety · 08/10/2025 01:01

shuggles · 07/10/2025 23:04

Stuff like this tends to be an issue with people who binge-watch a lot of TV, as most TV shows are from the US, and who also read a lot of stuff online from US newspapers. There are a lot of people who seem to think they are on a TV show, and their life is a US sitcom. There are also a surprising number of people who don't realise when they're reading a US newspaper online, and they assume what they're reading is intended for the UK.

This would explain why people are starting to use "mom." A few other examples of this...

Increasing use of the word "liberal." While "liberal" is a term used globally, it's used with a very specific definition in the US that is not applicable to the UK.
British singers singing with American accents and using American phrases. For example, in the song "Let Them Know" by Mabel, one of the lyrics is "they can run their mouth," which is a phrase that is only used in the US and not the UK.

Show quote history

I think this sort of misinformed assumption tends to be an issue with people who live in rather rarified parts of the Home Counties and have as a result a limited frame of reference.

TweedledumTweedleddee · 08/10/2025 01:20

My mum's from the Black Country. They, and people from Birmingham have always pronounced & spelt it as "mom". It's not a word that is specific to the USA.

JHound · 08/10/2025 02:08

Kudosss · 07/10/2025 22:11

This really. Why are people spelling it Mom now-a-days? This isn't America.

Errrr excuse me.

In the Midlands it had always been “Mom”.

JHound · 08/10/2025 02:10

People commenting on the “British way” to spell something yet are clearly clueless on the diversity of pronounciation / spellings in Britain.
— Signed A Proud Brummie who says: Mom.l

( I just noticed this is a Plop and Run by OP.)

JHound · 08/10/2025 02:15

OonaStubbs · 07/10/2025 22:19

IMO it is creeping Americanisation such as people saying skedule instead of shedule and people saying harASSment instead of HARassment. IMO it should be banned.

So the West Midlands does not exist in your world.