Why do so many people on MN say ‘mom’ instead of ‘mum’?

[Waitingforthesunnydays]

Yes I know this is the internet so there may be American users on here. The vast majority are British though. I also know there’s parts of England where ‘mom’ is used rather than ‘mum’ but those two things really don’t account for how often I see posters writing it as ‘mom’. Is this another Americanism that’s creeping in or are there much more parts of the country where mom is used than I thought?…

I write Mom. Everyone does in the city I live in . Cards have Mom on them too. I always have done and it’s always been that way here.

Does it matter?

I think you underestimate how many people in the UK use Mom tbh.

Surely those things must account for the frequency of mom v mum v mam?

Irish here, we use mum, mam, and mom. Not due to American influence, just variety across the country.

But in short it doesn't matter.

Pet hate of mine. Feels like mom is used more often than mum now.

Brummies use Mom.

Mom is short for Mother. Mum is short for muther- so seems totally wrong to me!

Other cultures use Mom, as well as parts of the UK. If my Mum or Friend was posting they'd be using Mam. Leave people be.

Round Birmingham say mom don’t they?

I'm from the NE so it's mam up here, but AFAIK mom is used by the west midlands which is a canny region.
Do the Irish also use mom? Or have I made that up?

Immigrant and where I'm from, we use mom.

The whole of the West Mids uses Mom. Pronounced that way as well as written.

I have only heard mom used on MNet in the UK. Never elsewhere in my 65 years.

It's Mam where I am.

Mom, mam and mum are all widely used in the UK.

I'm not from America, I'm not from Birmingham or near.

But I have a mom, my mom had a mom, and her mom had a mom! It's very common in my little part of the country (England).

Brummie here! I use “mom” and my kids call me “mom/mommy”. DH is Irish but born in West Mids, he’s uses “mom”. I’m an English teacher too (but I embrace dialects)!

Edit: I’m 47 so defo not influenced by American culture … maybe we Brummie’s started it!

Ah the quarterly 'mom' thread.

Well, I’ve worked in the Midlands for many years (decades) and it’s always been Mom in large parts of the W Mids. It’s a lovely part of the fact we have regional dialects and accents in this country. It’s a shame that people are so keen to come here and try to tell others they are speaking their own language wrongly, and a sign of the lack of interest and tolerance of other people that leads to bigotry and sneering at those who are different from oneself.

My late husband was from Yorkshire. He referred to his mother as Mam.

My niece and nephew were born and raised, and still live in the West Midlands. They call their mother Mom.

I grew up in the East Midlands. I called my late mother Mum.

All three names are perfectly acceptable English nomenclatures.

@CatamaranViper I love “mam”! In my annecdata the Irish do use “mom” but that may because all the Irish I know settles in the West Mids. My MIL uses “mammy” when referring to her own mum.

Where?

Birmingham/Wolverhampton.

The West Midlands region holds roughly 10-11% of England's population, with about 6.1 million residents as of 2023, compared to England's ~56 million, making it a significant, diverse hub but a smaller fraction of the total English populace, around 11% when considering just the region.

Given that, I'm suprised that we don't see 'mom' on Mumsnet more often.

Mam in Ireland- well my fam from South East anyway.