Mom, Mum or Mam?

Mom   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 09:46 GMT
Please say which one you use and where you come from.

I come from Birmingham, England and I say Mom.
Simon   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 10:44 GMT
Yes but Birmingham is a sad place where you're convinced you're American.
Alice   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 16:02 GMT
I'm from the US, but I usually say Mum or Mummy. I don't know why really, it just seems like a softer, nicer sound than "Mom".
adam   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 19:40 GMT
coming from manchester in north west of england, i'd usually say mum or mam, but round here if you say mam its usually the more common ones that say mam. not saying theres a class barrier round here or anything coz we are all working class in manchester and we dont think much of upper class posh people.
In the U.S   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 20:45 GMT
In the United States ''Mum'' and ''Mam'' are obsolete word.
In the U.S   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 20:48 GMT
If you say ''Mam'' in the United States, they'll think you mean ''ma'am'', A word that seems like it's becoming impolite anyway, because a lot of people say it makes them feel old.
Michal Ryszard Wojcik   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 20:50 GMT
What about mommy and mummy?
Don't you think there are certain reasons to prefer 'mommy' to 'mummy' when it comes to referring to a mother?
In the U.S   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 21:00 GMT
Mommy and mummy are baby-talk. they're words that adults don't say. Anyway, a ''mummy'' is a dead body that's been mummified. Why would any mother want their children to call them a dead body that's been mummified?
In the U.S   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 21:03 GMT
Daddy, mommy and mummy are babytalk. There are not any reasons to prefer ''Mommy and Mummy when referring to a mother, or to prefer ''daddy'' when referring to a father.
mjd   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 21:56 GMT
In the U.S.,

Much of what you said is simply not true. Number one, while I agree that "mommy" and "daddy" do sound somewhat babyish, there are a lot of adults who refer to their parents that way because that is what they grew up calling them.

Number two, as a waiter I'm very familiar with the term "ma'am." The term may make "thirty-something" women start to feel a little old, but it is not "becoming" impolite. It is used throughout the business world to address women in a polite way, as "sir" is used to address men. One needs to know when to use it (this is a judgement call), but it is inaccurate to use the term "impolite."
U.S   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 22:27 GMT
mommy and daddy are words that people use when they're little and then when they get older they replace them with ''mom'' and ''dad''.
Jay   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 22:29 GMT
In my family, we use "Ma" or "Maaaaaa".
My mom refers to my dad as "dad" sometimes, which I find weird.
U.S   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 22:33 GMT
that is very weird.
Jim   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 23:37 GMT
I call my parents "mum" and "dad". The words "mummy" and "daddy" are mainly used by young children but not exclusively. Where I'm from "mom", "mommy", "mam" and "mammy" are never used.

In Japanese it's quite normal for parents to call each other (the equivalents of) "mum", "dad", "father", "mother", etc.
Jim   Thursday, December 11, 2003, 23:44 GMT
I hadn't completed one of those sentences above. It should have read "Where I'm from the words 'mummy' and 'daddy' are mainly used by young children but not exclusively."

Michal,

I'm just wondering what "reasons to prefer 'mommy' to 'mummy'" you could be thinking of. For me there is no reason to even consider using "mommy" but I'm Australian. To Aussies "mom" and "mommy" seem very American, most of us don't want to seem American.