Mom, Mum or Mam?

Californian   Friday, December 12, 2003, 02:30 GMT
Mom and Dad.
Alice   Friday, December 12, 2003, 02:44 GMT
My parents don't seem to mind being called "Mummy" & "Daddy", that's what I've called them most of my life, & I don't see any real reason to change just because I'm older, (& I've never had anyone think I was talking to a dead body). However, when I'm talking about my parents rather than to them, I'll usually refer to them as my "Mother" & "Father", in order to avoid sounding even younger than my years.

To my American ears, "Mam" would sound like "Ma'am", but "Ma'am" is hardly, as MJD mentioned, an impolite term. Though some young women may be taken aback by being summoned that way, it is still meant as a term of respect. It's the transition from being a "Miss" to becomming a "Ma'am" that women find disconcerting, not the word itself.
Surprising   Friday, December 12, 2003, 02:56 GMT
Wouldn't it be surprising if you found yourself forward in time and looked up the word ''ma'am'' in the dictionary and the definition was ''A really impolite word that tells someone they're getting old''. I would find that very weird to find that.
Rugger   Friday, December 12, 2003, 03:41 GMT

Like Alice, I still call my parents "mummy" and "daddy". My siblings also continue to use these terms. I know that many consider it childish for adults to use "mummy" and "daddy", but I just never converted to using "mum"/"dad". One reason is that I find "mum"/"dad" to be less endearing than "mummy"/"daddy" - like using "granny" instead of "gran". Another reason is that I've grown accostomed to using the terms "mummy"/"daddy" and therefore it feels more "normal" and comfortable for me to continue using them. However, when in public I do use "mother"/"father" or "mum"/"dad" to refer to my parents.
A.S.C.M.   Friday, December 12, 2003, 08:57 GMT
I say "mum" and "daddy", due to the great influence Britain has had on me.

Most pupils in my school in California say "mom" and "dad". However, a newly-arrived Singaporean girl seems to be exerting some influence on her friends, for I overheard them saying "mum" a few days ago.
Juan   Friday, December 12, 2003, 10:37 GMT
It must be my hearing but "mum" and "mom" sound almost identical to me. I thought the pronunciation was the same for this word but the spelling (as is sometimes the case in AmEng) was different. Guess I was wrong.
Juan   Friday, December 12, 2003, 11:12 GMT
Having read the previous posts that I'm a bit taken a back by these "personal" revelations.

In Spanish the formal term for mother is MADRE. Like others have said before, this is the word that I use to refer to my mother when I'm talking to non-family members. When I'm addresssing my mother I do so by calling her MAMA which is still a very affectionate term. The other word that is commonly used by children is the diminutive form of MAMA which is MAMI, but I wouldn't be caught dead calling my mother by this term at this time in my life. I would never be able live the embarrasment down (think about it, a 22 year old man still calling her mother, MUMMY how sad!?) for the rest of my life. I did call my mother MAMI when I was but a little child, BUT that stopped once I reached the age of 12 or 13.
Simon   Friday, December 12, 2003, 11:50 GMT
Mum is pronounced differently in England according to area but always rhymes with FUN.
Jacob   Friday, December 12, 2003, 12:51 GMT
Mom and Dad or Daddy.

Throughout the South of the US, there are lots of adults that use Daddy to refer to their father.
Alice   Friday, December 12, 2003, 13:06 GMT
To be fair, I don't think I know any men who call their parents "Mummmy" (or "Mommy") & "Daddy". While it seems to be socially acceptable, (in the US), for women of all ages, this is not as true for grown men.
Mom and Dad   Friday, December 12, 2003, 20:04 GMT
I say ''mom'' and ''dad''.
Hythloday   Friday, December 12, 2003, 20:08 GMT
"Yes but Birmingham is a sad place where you're convinced you're American." (Simon)

Que?
Rugger   Friday, December 12, 2003, 23:29 GMT
I agree with Alice in that it may be more acceptable for women of all ages to use the terms "mummy"/"daddy" than men. Being female may be why my sisters and I haven't felt the peer pressure to stop calling our parents "mummy" and "daddy". I think a large factor is that we all attended an all girls college and found that even upto senior school many girls also continued to use "mummy"/"daddy" when reffering to their parents. Thus we felt no real peer pressure to use "mum"/"dad".
Ryan   Saturday, December 13, 2003, 09:58 GMT
The stereotype of girls who still call their father "Daddy" when they are teenagers is that they are spoiled brats who want their fathers to buy them expensive things. I think "Daddy" is probably more used than "Mommy," though, not even counting the rappers that like to call themselves "Big Daddy."
Hythloday   Saturday, December 13, 2003, 14:06 GMT
Anyone use Pa or Papa?