What do you call your mother and father?

Damian from Edinburgh   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:20 GMT
Mother is Mam. My Dad (Dadie) died in a motor cycle accident when I was 7 but I now have a Stepdad and I call him Duncan (to his face...out of his hearing something else).
Sander   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:21 GMT
You don't like your Stepdad Damian?
Kirk   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:22 GMT
I call my parents "mom" and "dad." Just like Travis, those are the words I use most often also when talking about other people's parents...that's pretty much the norm here. "Mother" and "father" sound somewhat formal to me.
Llwys   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:25 GMT
Yep, Travis, you don't speak any Welsh, aber ich sprache ja Deutsch! You got it right, I was answering the founder of this forum (who seems to be M.I.A. as of now); our posts are simultaneous, did you notice?
And, to anyone wanting to know 'who' clart is, go visit:
http://www.youknowsit.co.uk/
That's what I call English!
Cymru am byth!
Travis   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:34 GMT
I myself agree that the words "mother" and "father" sound quite formal, to the point of being too formal for most everyday purposes. As for "mommy" and "daddy", I rarely hear those being used by anyone other than little kids, unlike "mom" and "dad", which are practically universal amongst people my age (and younger) here.
Don   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:41 GMT
''I call my parents "mom" and "dad."

Kirk,

Shouldn't ''mom'' and ''dad'' be capitalized. I thought they were supposed to be. Anyway, here in South Wales, we don't use ''Mom'', but use ''Mam'' in place of it.

It's interesting that you oftem use ''mom'' and ''dad'' in place of ''mother'' and ''father''. I don't generally do that with ''mam'' and ''dad''. I use ''Mam'' and ''Dad'' only when talking about my own mother and father.

Another question,

Is it true that Americans sometimes call old women that are not their mother ''Mam''? I once saw an American television show where someone said ''yes, Mam'' to someone that was not their mother.
Sander   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:43 GMT
Thought that was an abrevation of 'madam'...
Travis   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:48 GMT
As for "mom" and "dad", nope, they're not capitalized normally here, except at the start of sentences (like most words except for some specific computer terms which always start with a lowercase letter no matter where they are in a sentence). And yes, they're used here in the US not just for referring to one's own parents, but rather *anyone's* parents.

The word "Mam" that you refer to, Don, by the way, is actually "ma'am", and yes, is an abbreviation of "madam", but is not pronounced at all like how many English people pronounce "mum", in that it's pronounced /m{m/ --> [m{~:m], not /m@m/ --> [mV~:m].
Adam   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 19:58 GMT
Whore=Mum
The Dog=Dad
nico   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 20:00 GMT
in french maman becomes 'mam and papa become pa'
Damian   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 20:08 GMT
We just don't get on, SANDER...simple as that.
zarafa   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 20:11 GMT
=> And yes, they're used here in the US not just for referring to one's own parents, but rather *anyone's* parents.

But not everyone does it. I say "your mother" or "his father."
Sander   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 20:13 GMT
Lol,why do you always capitalize my (and othe peoples) name?
Travis   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 20:16 GMT
zarafa, of course, "your mother" and "his father" (rather than "your mom" and "his dad") sound quite formal to me, to say the very least.
andre in south africa   Tuesday, June 07, 2005, 20:22 GMT
Afrikaans

Mother - Moeder
Father - Vader

Mom - Ma
Dad - Pa

Mommy - Mamma/Mammie/Mams
Daddy - Pappa/Pappie/Paps

Moeder and Vader very formal and seldom used

Mamma/Mammie and Pappa/Pappie mostly used by kids