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?…

Alright calm down

Autocorrect, mainly.

North Staffordshire (inc Stoke) and North Shropshire do not say Mom. I believe the mom border is Cannock and Telford 😂 🤔

I don’t think they do.

Sup op me dook 🦆🍻🍺

Nope that incorrectly alters mom to mum. It’s deliberate usage.

They use Mom in North Worcestershire

Not everyone from the West Midlands is a brummie. Just throwing that into the mix. Ar bay a brummie.

Bin yow a yam yam then @BitOutOfPractice

Which is fine

Irish and growing up we said mam. I was a young mother first time round and mam seemed terribly old fashioned so I used mom. I dont know anyone irl who says mum and definitely never, ever, mummy.

My family originates from the West Midlands. Mom seems to be usual there. I was born out of that area so mum is more common.

I wrote and pronounced "mom" when referring to MY mom, because that's how she referred to herself, but wrote and pronounced "mum" when referring to my friends' mums.

It made perfect sense to me - and still does.

80% of English users on the internet use American English. I believe more people for whom English is a second language use American English, also. It’s generally more standardized compared to British English.

If I recall correctly, ‘mom’ is an old English word used in American English, rather than exclusively an Americanism. It was the word most commonly used by the English settlers of the American colonies, and grew to become the standard. Back in England however, ‘mom’ declined in popularity and was overtaken by ‘mum’ in the 1800s.

Some Americans may not know because they only know the other definition of ‘mum’ which means quiet or silent.

Ever heard of the phrase:

Mum’s the word.

Be happy when some posters would stop moaning about this so-called creeping in of Americanism especially when many Americanism they moan about are just not English or just not used in their part of the UK.

Ar. Am yow?

Ar. Am yow?

I'm british and in the area im from we say mam rather than mum. I always assume that anyone saying the word mom are American because I've never heard a brit use that word to refer to their mother.

It's fine to ask though, isn't it?

Watch out @VegBox your snobbery is showing 🙄

It's only really London & the south that say Mum. Most of the country is Mom or Mam.

Mum sounds weird to me

You need to get out more then

Why does it matter?

You missed the Mom Map post then?

Also, autocorrect. It does this to me sometimes. I do correct it, but some people might just leave it be.

I think people leaving autocorrect set on US English is probably responsible for lot of Americanisms we see. Mold, labor, neighbor, license etc.

I struggled to type that because mine is set on British English.