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Mom or Mum?

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I always said "mom", but I keep hearing more and more people saying "mum", and it annoys me... Is it an American/British thing, or what?


Learn it kids:

mum.jpg



mom.jpg
 

Lyte Edge

All I got for the Vernal Equinox was this stupid tag
bjork said:
I always said "hey", and she salways says "hey punkass", so I don't know.

I think I usually don't have to say ANYTHING...just start talking. I ask for "Mom" if I'm on the phone. Usually my mom starts talking to me first, and always calls me by my brother's name (she does the same thing to him) then quickly switches to my name, so "Matt-- Lee" sounds like "Matlee" real fast.
 
Lyte Edge said:
I think I usually don't have to say ANYTHING...just start talking. I ask for "Mom" if I'm on the phone. Usually my mom starts talking to me first, and always calls me by my brother's name (she does the same thing to him) then quickly switches to my name, so "Matt-- Lee" sounds like "Matlee" real fast.

I'm used to my parents occasionally calling me by my brother's name, it happens much more often with relatives calling me though.
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Mum.

I can barely bring myself to say Mom out loud, it feels like I have to use my mouth in a weird way and it sounds as stupid as hell.
 

Overseer

Member
I never say mom or mum directly to her face, I usually say hey or yo, but never those two. Same goes for my father, I never say Dad or Pop, I always say you or hey. When talking about them behind their back I usually say mother or father.
 
I hardly ever say "mom", and I never say "mum." I usually always say "mama."

Yeah, I'm almost 24, and you can kiss my ass. Although please note that I don't say "mama" in public, just at home.
 
Error Macro said:
I hardly ever say "mom", and I never say "mum." I usually always say "mama."

Yeah, I'm almost 24, and you can kiss my ass. Although please note that I don't say "mama" in public, just at home.

:p

I didn't see this thread before.

Same with me and my siblings. We also say Mama (rhymes with Bubba, accent on a), or Ma (short u sound) for short. Papa (pup + short o) or Pa (short o) for short. That was the names they gave each other when in front of us. It is pretty much the same as Mommy and Daddy.

It started from when we were babies, and it stuck - for more than 25 years. We only say it at home/to each other too. I don't find this odd, since we were born into another language.
 

NetMapel

Guilty White Male Mods Gave Me This Tag
I call my mother "mommy", but I usually say it really fast so it sounds like "meeeee"
 

Fusebox

Banned
I say mum because I'm Australian, but even when I've read it in US books as 'mom' I still assumed you'd pronounce it as mum, much the same as gaol and jail.

You guys actually say 'mom', as in 'bom' or 'from'..?

Thats just weird...
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Error Macro said:
I hardly ever say "mom", and I never say "mum." I usually always say "mama."

Yeah, I'm almost 24, and you can kiss my ass. Although please note that I don't say "mama" in public, just at home.

I'm 24 tomorrow :)

Actually wait, that's not anything to smile about. That's nearly a quarter of a century old! :(

Fusebox said:
I say mum because I'm Australian, but even when I've read it in US books as 'mom' I still assumed you'd pronounce it as mum, much the same as gaol and jail.

You guys actually say 'mom', as in 'bom' or 'from'..?

Thats just weird...

Never watch any American TV?
 
Who said they sounded stupid? I just said there's no "American" accent. Now there's several dozens of regional accents scattered throughout the land, but there's no "general" accent.
 
I call my mom "boss" most of the time. An occasional "mom" does sneak through once in a while.

I'd only call her "mum" if I was doing a bad impression.
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Tre said:
Who said they sounded stupid? I just said there's no "American" accent. Now there's several dozens of regional accents scattered throughout the land, but there's no "general" accent.

First of all, I'm not Aussie (nothing against them though :))

Second of all... Hmm where to begin :p

The "American accent" is a collection of accents. Someone from the South and someone from the North have different accents yes, but they're both American accents.

Do you think all British people sound the same? Australians? French? Trust me on the first one when I say someone from London (south) and someone from Leeds (north) have very different accents. You may not be able to recognise the difference because you don't hear the accents very much; therefore you'd call them both (correctly) British accents even though there's plenty different about them.
 
"Do you think all British people sound the same? Australians? French? Trust me on the first one when I say someone from London (south) and someone from Leeds (north) have very different accents. You may not be able to recognise the difference because you don't hear the accents very much; therefore you'd call them both (correctly) British accents even though there's plenty different about them."

No, I don't.

"
The "American accent" is a collection of accents. Someone from the South and someone from the North have different accents yes, but they're both American accents."

Different *accents*. Kind of hard to be the American Accent when there's so much more than one :p.

Now all canucks sound alike, I think we'll all agree there.
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Tre said:
Different *accents*. Kind of hard to be the American Accent when there's so much more than one :p.

Yes, but they still fall under the one banner. It's like saying a trainer (sneaker) isn't a shoe because it's a trainer. Not the best analogy but I'm sure you get the point :)

"Now all canucks sound alike, I think we'll all agree there."

Haha, I'll leave them to answer that one ;)
 

Fifty

Member
Tre said:
Now all canucks sound alike, I think we'll all agree there.


You're joking, right?

Not even close. The stereotypical "Canadian" accent is not to be found in a single person I've met in all my years living in Canada. Save for a few people in the maritimes.
 
I agree with SFA_OK on different accents/general accent issue... It's even the same in a tiny country like Jordan, people from the north speak different than people from the south, yet they are both considered "Jordanian accent"... For Arabic that is.


Edit: Wait, canucks = Canadians? That's new to me.
 
The accents are so friggin' different from each other, that sure they both are accents for Americans (different areas), but there is no *American* accent. There's no quintessential accent that we all use, nor are the different accents remotely alike with each other :p.


Fifty: Eh? What are you talking about, hoser?
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
There is an American accent. There's a certain sound that's very American. I don't know how to describe it, but anyone speaking from any part of the US I will immediately identify as American out of a lineup of people from various English speaking countries.

You may think there's no link between an accent from one part of the country and from another, but believe me, those of us outside of the country hear it quite clearly.
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Tre said:
The accents are so friggin' different from each other, that sure they both are accents for Americans (different areas), but there is no *American* accent. There's no quintessential accent that we all use, nor are the different accents remotely alike with each other :p.

There's not one specific accent, no. That's what I'm saying. A is B. B is C. Therefore, A is C.

I'm not saying there's one specific accent that's the American accent. An American accent is just one of the regional accents within the US.

The same goes for any country - there's no quintessential English accent. But if you heard me talk you'd say "Hey, you have an English accent."
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Mama Smurf said:
There is an American accent. There's a certain sound that's very American. I don't know how to describe it, but anyone speaking from any part of the US I will immediately identify as American out of a lineup of people from various English speaking countries.

You may think there's no link between an accent from one part of the country and from another, but believe me, those of us outside of the country hear it quite clearly.

I'd agree but the "American accent" is really an abstract... Of all the regional accents within the US, there are certain things that link them - this allows a person to distinguish between an American and another English speaker (let's say a New Zealander). I wouldn't say *that's* the American accent and besides, I don't want to confuse Tre ;) :D
 
"Of all the regional accents within the US, there are certain things that link them - this allows a person to distinguish between an American and another English speaker (let's say a New Zealander)."

Like pronouns and gerunds or something? :p
 
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