to think that Mom is an Americanism too far

[Tinasan]

I must be an old fart. I keep reading threads where people refer to their mother as 'mom' and it sets my teeth on edge. Has there been some new shift in British pronunciation that I'm unaware of? Should the site be called Momsnet? Seriously, could someone can reply and tell me their reasoning for spelling mum like mom, and put a miserable old bag out of her misery

I think mum, mom, mam are all regional aren't they?

Riven - mam is definately distinct to mum, loads of cards in cardshops in the N.E have mam on them on not mum, I am from there and say mum but its a different word to mam!

Mom Mom Mom MOM MOM
Mom Mom Mom MOM MOM
Mom Mom Mom MOM MOM
Mom Mom Mom MOM MOM

I am a Midlander, so that is what I say.

Though my DS's are Northern and say Mum.

Guess you are sorry you asked now, eh Tinasan?

Right, there have been a few threads about this lately.

As an American, here's what I don't understand. The abbreviation for Mother would be mom, right? So unless you are referring to a Muther which is a whole separate kettle of fish then I don't get why the abbreviation for Mother is mum anyway....

like gotton instead of got is old English

DD calls me MUuuuuum, DH tells her to ask her Mom, I loathe the creeping Americansim of the english language but accept that she may (at this late stage) decide to adopt DH's pronunciatiom. I hope not but if it happens it does.
It's interesting to me that Dads don't have as much of a range of pronunciation. My dad comes from Durham and he always called himself Da.

oh yes very sorry I asked! It seems that Mumsnetters are overwhelmingly Midlanders and Americans!

[shuffles off to dig out Jasper Carrot DVD and listen carefully to his pronunciation of mum/mom/...]

I'm rolling your pure English language around on my dirty little colonised new world tongue

and i love it

Mmm

i'm spelling words with z instead of s

dropping the u from colour and vapour

howyalikemenow??

chibi

Apols if I have frightened anyone

I have no idea what just got into me

[politely] - yes Chibi you sound delightful. Very nice indeed.

My question was not about the validity of American pronunciation or spellings, but why a British person would choose to use a word or spell a word in a way that is foreign to them. Midlanders aside of course, as I have now learned!

I had to give my yampy mil a good talking to about teaching my DD to spell Mum MOM.

It is just wrong. It looks wrong, it's spelt wrong and doesn't even sound right.

I am a M-U-M

I'd like to see this research as I hold a different (more layperson's view.

Some older forms of English words have been fossilised in American English while it has diverged from standard British English. Likewise other non-standard dialects of British English will also have similar remnants.

Merrion Webster compiled the first American Dictionary in order to differentiate their English from British English and standardised the spelling a lot of words and created some more from French because of the diplomatic alliances with France at the time. So there was a deliberate and artificial move in American English away from the historic origins.

I speak a Caribbean vernacular of English which have some interesting 17th and 18th C fossilisations too. Like 'tinnen'.

Oh and i live in the heart of the black country and thankfully have never seen a Mom card in the shops.

I think it might just finish me off.

Slightly trivially...

Moorland Pottery do stoneware with regional phrases/dialect and they do a 'I Love You Mom' mug in their Brummie range.

Ah, this one again.

West Midlands thing etc.

I called my mum Mom up until secondary school, I think. Don't know why I changed.

I'm American and call my English mother 'Mom'. I live in England and have 4 English DSs and they call me 'Mum'. So we go both ways in our family.

I'm Welsh and it's Mam for us.

I don't think Mom is a midlands thing, (well not where I live any way) no one I know says "Mom"

Perhaps I am not really from the Midlands then, Sparkly? Could have just dreamt it all up I suppose

at Yampy, Arse.

Brings back memories (though where from, who knows??)

Lizzylou - You may say Mom from your part of the midlands but we definitely don't say it round these parts

I know Sparkly (where, I am from just south of B'ham, just Worcestershire), but we get these threads sooo often, I am starting to wonder if I am actually American and noone told me