Is it Mom, Mum or Mammy?
@sprite1950 (30453)
Corsham, England
November 29, 2021 3:30am CST
It occurs to me that most people call their mother "Mom" although in England we say "Mum". Is there anywhere else in the world that uses the same word as we do?
In Wales and I think Ireland they often use Mammy and in some parts of the world I believe it is mama.
What do you call your mother?
12 people like this
14 responses
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
29 Nov 21
I called mine "mother" but didn't realize that until she pointed it out one day. *shrug*
5 people like this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
29 Nov 21
You probably called her mommy as a little boy didn't you?
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
29 Nov 21
@sprite1950 I think I called her "mom" but could be mistaken.
2 people like this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
29 Nov 21
@DaddyEvil I remember a time comes when it is looked on scornfully if you say "mummy". When you reach a certain age it has to be "mum"... unless you're a posh person and they carry on saying mummy and daddy for the rest of your life.
2 people like this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
I knew that grandmother was Nonna as I have an Italian friend and her grandchildren called her that when she was alive. They called their grandfather Nonno I think.
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
@LadyDuck I loved the way my friend's grandchildren used to fuss round her. They always had big Italian meals round the table which went on for hours too.
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@LadyDuck (457412)
• Switzerland
30 Nov 21
@sprite1950 Yes, the grandfather is Nonno, we call the Mom Mamma and the Father "papà. If we write the word to be used are madre for mother and padre for father.
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@Sreekala (34312)
• India
29 Nov 21
@sprite1950 For father ' Achan'. Amma and Achan (mother and father)
2 people like this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
29 Nov 21
That's one I've never heard before. I find it interesting ti know all the different words. What do you call your father?
2 people like this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
@Nawsheen I think that's quite nice. Over here we only ever say mum or mummy when we are little.
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
I remember Maman from my French lessons. Which word do you use for yours?
1 person likes this
@ShyBear88 (59275)
• Sterling, Virginia
29 Nov 21
I the US it comes down to the parents. My kids call me mommy, mom some times mama. It changes depending on whom they are talking to. My kids have cousins that calls there mom mama and there dad papa
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
I love the word papa. We never say that over here. We only say daddy when we are little and dad as we get older.
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
@ShyBear88 Same for my children. I think the D sound is easier for them to pronounce then the M sound when they are learning.
@ShyBear88 (59275)
• Sterling, Virginia
30 Nov 21
@sprite1950 from a parent point of view more kids actually learn to say repetitive words first like like mama or papa or mama and dada. Dada was my most of my kids first words.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118368)
• Gainesville, Florida
30 Nov 21
I always called my mother "mom."
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
I think all Americans do. I'm not sure why we have to be different but I guess it's like the rest of our weird spelling!
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
@moffittjc Your spelling is more logical than ours. We often have "u"stuck in words that really aren't needed like colour and favourite.
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@moffittjc (118368)
• Gainesville, Florida
30 Nov 21
@sprite1950 I’ve often thought about that too! How did we end up with different words and spellings? It should be the same since our two countries are intricately linked.
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@averygirl72 (37715)
• Philippines
14 Dec 21
Here I know they use Mommy for those rich people. For ordinary people just Mama or nanay
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
14 Dec 21
No matter what we call our mothers they are all special.
1 person likes this
@sabtraversa (12855)
• Italy
29 Nov 21
Mamma, in Italian. Sometimes ma'. The pronunciation is probably more similar to the British "mum" than the American "mom".
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
I don't know many countries that use the word Mum. I wonder how it came about. We have such weird spelling over here.
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
@sabtraversa Oh dear, we all say it over here but I have never thought of it in that way 
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@sabtraversa (12855)
• Italy
30 Nov 21
@sprite1950 I only have a problem with "mummy" because of the double meaning. It might be offensive to think of mothers as undead. Hopefully it is not used very often.
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@JESSY3236 (18885)
• United States
30 Nov 21
I call my mother Momma. I called my grandmother Nanny.
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
My granddaughter calls me nan but when she was little it was nanny.
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
So do all Canadians say mum? I always thought they said mom.
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
@Happy2BeMe Was your mum English or maybe there was an English relative somewhere down the line?
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@Happy2BeMe (99399)
• Canada
30 Nov 21
@sprite1950 I think most of them say mom but my mum called her mother mum so we just grewing up doing the same thing.
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
We all have a special word for our mother because they are special.
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
@Sojourn I'm sure she's special to you though.
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@Sojourn (13829)
• India
30 Nov 21
@sprite1950 Actually, in my mother tongue, mother is said to be ma, so, in this case nothing special.
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
Haha I like the favour version! I've never heard of Mamti before though.
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@Babino (5761)
• Morocco
30 Nov 21
@sprite1950 mamti got a Arabic sound to it. Ti refers to mine. Like sweetie.
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
7 Dec 21
That's a lot of names. Here it is just mum or mummy in England. I don't believe there are any other names although I expect some families have different variations that just they use.
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
8 Dec 21
@nzlz123 I remember how lovely it felt the first time my children called me mummy.
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@nzlz123 (6473)
• Indonesia
8 Dec 21
@sprite1950 yes it is haha some call their mother mommy too
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
30 Nov 21
That's a new one on me. I like to hear different versions of the word mother.
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@sprite1950 (30453)
• Corsham, England
1 Dec 21
@Faster16 What languages do you speak Is it mainly English?
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