What's in a name? Where are the Mammies?

MarchDub

I have a question for new parents and those to be. I grew up in Ireland - many years ago - and always called my mother "Mammy" to the day she died just a few years ago. It has a warm affectionate ring to me and even though I live overseas my own daughter calls me this. I notice in the Irish newspapers a reluctance to use this and the word "Mum" [which I always have hated as a sound and imagery] is being substituted. See today's Irish Independent for example.

As I don't live in Ireland now I have no idea if this terrible English appellation has crept into the language. Has it? Mothers, what do your children call you?

Nevyn

Mam and occasionally Mammy, but never Ma.

MarchDub

Thaedydal wrote: »

Mam and occasionally Mammy, but never Ma.

Thanks - good to know that! I wonder why the media are reluctant to use this?

stovelid

Moved here from England when I was 11 so I call(ed) her Mum which I always think of as more of an English phrase.

When we moved here, I tried Ma a couple of times, but she hated it.

littlebug

I'm mammy, just mammy

There seems to be an awful lot of "Moms" around these days too.

Raytown Rocks

Mammy all the way for my Kids.

noby

littlebug wrote: »

There seems to be an awful lot of "Moms" around these days too.

My wife is called Mamaí. When it's shortened it might sound like Mom, but most defenitely isn't.

Lizzykins

Mam or Mammy. If the word Mum or Mom comes into my house the perpetrator leaves! I CANNOT stand the word Mum. We're not living in London/Manchester/Birmingham so cut it out.

beth-lou

Mam or Mammy. Same as I called mine.

the glass woman

Well i'm actually called Mm-nana, which is adorable as he's only 13 months old! But i hope to be called mama for as long as possible.. I would've called my mother 'mam' or 'mom' growing up but now its mainly 'mam'. Wouldn't dream of calling her 'mammy'!

deisemum

Mam, I cannot remember calling my mother mammy and I'm 44. I don't call her anything thing now. I cringe when I hear adults call their mother mammy.

Mine call me mam.

Mom seems to be taking over though, not in my house.

shoelaceface

i call mine mam and mammy..... depending what i want :rolleyes:

barbiegirl

Mammy when talking about her, probably Ma when talking to her. :-) I'm 33. She called Nanny Mammy up until the day she passed.

MarchDub

deisemum wrote: »

Mam, I cannot remember calling my mother mammy and I'm 44. I don't call her anything thing now. I cringe when I hear adults call their mother mammy.

Mine call me mam.

Mom seems to be taking over though, not in my house.

Actually "Mom" is American. Hope that doesn't take over - as for me I loved to hear my own mother call my Granny "Mammy". I personally think it is wonderful to hear adults use this. As a child it reminded me that my Mammy had a Mammy and was once someone's child - and I loved it. Continuity.

littlebitdull

Mine call me ... Mum, Mam, and sometimes Mother. Never Ma. I think they may have called me Mammy when they were toddlers, but it didn't stick. Probably cause I dont like it.

I called my own mother Mammy till I was into my teens - she is Mum now. She called her parents Mammy and Daddy till they died ..

Beth

If i'm talking to her I'll call her Mam
If i'm talking about her to my sister I'll call her Mammy - something "were you texting Mammy today" or something.
My neighbour (over 65) always calls her Mammy, like "Is your Mammy there?" I find it hilarious when he asks me.

I asked a child one day where her Mammy was.
good grief, I got the ear roared off me from the mother in public. "Its MUMMY, not Mammy." I stood there with :eek: on my face. As she walked off with the child, she muttered "f**king commoners". I wouldnt mind like... but she grew up a few houses away from me!!

themadchef

beth-lou wrote: »

Mam or Mammy. Same as I called mine.

Same here.

simu

I am supposed to be Mamaí but my son calls me Baba!

nesf

I always called my mother Mom, and she does the same with hers, I've no idea when or from where it started though. It just seems to be the done thing in our family for quite a while now. My wife is called Baba, as noted above.

lostinnappies

i called my mine "mom". My kids call me "Mommie". I dont know what it is but I personally hate the sound of Ma, Mam, or Mammie. But thats just me i guess.:o

luckat

Mom is American, but may have gone to America from Ireland, where Mam in Irish sounds more like Mom.

We always called our parents by their first names, ditto with the next generation.

MrsA

I am calling myself Mummy to a son who is 8 months, and he has just started to say it.

I hate the sound of Mammy personally, I think it sounds very hard or something.

I hope he calls me Mum or Mummy.

M

simu

Personally, Mammy reminds me of the cliché of the "Irish Mammy" - not something to be aspired to.

LadyE

My ds calls me mommy, mom or mama (when he is being loving like "I love you mama").

I dont mind what my son calls me at all.

Sleepy

Tis funny how everyone has a different opinion on things...

Growing up myself it was Mammy before becoming Mum when I was a teenager and now I'd call her Mam (I'm 28). Never Ma or Mom, the first because she thought it sounded 'knackery' and the second because she hated the sound of 'mom'. Either would have you in the bad books for days...

My partner is 'mammy'...

hazeler

My little girl (is she still little at 7??) calls me Momma, made me a sign for my door that says Momma on it, she even calls me Momma at the school gate when all the kids around us say "Mam" or "Mom".

She calls her dad by his first name, I love it!:D

I myself say "Mom", but when Im talking to my sisters, we all say "Mammy".

Sesame

I call mine Mum. I remember from school days that all the country kids called there's Mam and the town kids called theirs Mum. No idea why or where this started.

When I was little I would have called my mam Mammy, now it's mam, unless I'm joking and saying 'ah me oul mammy'. If I'm talking to someone else baout her I refer to her as Mum, don't know why, think it's just because that's what other people seem to say.
I always called myself Mammy to my daughter when she was a baby, as did my husband (and still does) but the way she says it is Mommy, even though she is saying mammy, it's just the way she prenounces it, I quite prefer it to Mammy now.

Scoobydoobydoo

My son calls me Mom, but it sounds like Mawhm, not like the American Mom or the English Mum, and I don't know where he got it! When he was small he called me Momma.

I think Mammy/Mommy/Mummy is very babyish and sounds weird when used by adult offspring! That's just me!
As a child I called my mother Mammy, later I used Mum, as that is what she prefers.
Same with Daddy/Dad.
My mother called her mother Mamma.

stovelid

simu wrote: »

I am supposed to be Mamaí

simu wrote: »

Personally, Mammy reminds me of the cliché of the "Irish Mammy" - not something to be aspired to.

Don't these just sound the same.....or is my Irish as shite as I think...?

LivingDeadGirl

Mom, Momma when I was little.

Bally8

I call my mother mammy but my daughter calls me Mom. I would hate it if she called me anything else.

simu

stovelid wrote: »

Don't these just sound the same.....

No, they are different.

gcgirl

I call mam the old dear, My oldest girl is really posh and calls me Mummy, The middle fella calls me mama, and the youngest calls me Mah she's real common, 2 and a half with a real wickla accent

watna

I call my mother mum - always have. I think it's because my Welsh granny was called Mam as the Welsh word for grandmother is Mamgu (pronounced mam-gee). This was shortened to mam. My cousins are a fair bit older than me so she was mam a long time before I was born. Even my mum (her daughter in law) called her mam. It's kind of pronounced with a longer A sound though so is doesn't sound quite the same as an Irish person calling their mother mam.

The Welsh for Dad is Tad but we never called my dad that - he was always dad, or daddy if I wanted something.

I personally don't like the word mammy, as Hagar says it sounds a bit like the Irish mammy cliche and reminds me of that Al Jolson song - to my mammy. That song kind of creeps me out.

Quackles

I'm mammy, and I still call my mother mammy when I'm talking to or about her. If I'm talking to my son about the grandparents, they're granny and granda. Never liked mum or mummy (sounds too posh or something) and mom or mommy sounds too american I've warned my husband (aka daddy) that if our children ever call me ma, I'm leaving him That's what he calls his mother! Me ma! Sounds like an ambulance!

TargetWidow

DD 25wks old has called me Awawa since about 12wks. She calls her daddy Awoh. This week she started calling him DaDa. She only calls for him now and not me as she seems to be forgetting Awawa and only using DaDa. Very useful for the middle of the night when she wakes up going "DaDa" - its like "Hey I'd go love, but it's you she wants!":D

pickarooney

Our son calls his mother 'dada' as he has reserved 'mama' exclusively to designate biscuits. He also calls me (and one of the cats) 'dada' but calls the other cat by name.

AnonoBoy

Lizzykins wrote: »

Mam or Mammy. If the word Mum or Mom comes into my house the perpetrator leaves! I CANNOT stand the word Mum. We're not living in London/Manchester/Birmingham so cut it out.

Jaysus - your poor kids! One word out of place and you'll kick them out of the house!

emma@

My son is only 16 months but calls me mama, would prefer if he called me mam growing up, i call my mother mam all the time, if i tried calling her ma i'd get a clip on the ear

PurpleLily

My three call me Mam - although the 3yr old tends to call me Mother when she's having a strop. I've always called my own mother Mam.

noby

PurpleLily wrote: »

although the 3yr old tends to call me Mother when she's having a strop.

Ha! That sounds familiar.

Ludo

Is this a female thing? Does it actually matter what your child refers to you as? As long as they are happy, healthy and get on with you does it really matter what version of "mother" thay refer to you as?
I couldn't care less if my two refer to me as dad, da, dada etc etc,
Currently it is dada but they are less than a year so everything is dada as it is all they say other than mama when they are REALLY upset

Pigletlover

I've always called mine mam, and when I have children that's what I want to be called too. I don't like mum, and I hate mummy, it sounds so snooty. A lot of kids are calling their mothers mom nowadays, I don't like that either, it's too americanised.

MrsA

Mammy reminds me of Daniel O'Donnell, and anything that reminds me of him cannot be good!!

M

Nevyn

Well I am the stay at home parent my two will by default come to me or call for me or yell out for me and frankly MA gets on my nerves and I would rather not have my teeth set on edge when they address me which is easily between 15 ot 50 times a day.

r3nu4l

MarchDub wrote: »

As I don't live in Ireland now I have no idea if this terrible English appellation has crept into the language. Has it? Mothers, what do your children call you?

A certain type of person/family insists on use of the word 'Mum'. These same people believe that M&S is the pinnacle of shopping and somehow a superior department store. Generally a very middle-class thing. I'm not having a dig at anyone by saying that, it's just an observation that has so far held true...a bit like the Pythagerous theorem. :pac:

I always called my Mam, 'Mam' and still do When I was in University I had friends who used the word 'Mum' and they were generally those who were not from working-class backgrounds. I live in England and 'Mum' is ubiquitous across all classes (and the vulgar idea of class distinction is very much in evidence all over daily life in England).

Oryx

Mam...Mam...MAM...MAAAAAM... MAMMY!... MAMMY!... MAMMMMEEEEE!!

..is kinda what it sounds like in my house. Sometimes x2.

dodgyme

I think it is broadly along these lines

Mam

---

> working class culchies
Mammy

---

> working class Jackeens
Ma ----> working class Jackeens
Mother ---> working class corkonians pretending to be middleclass
Mum ---> Shower of ejjits who cant make up their mind what class they are
auld lady ---> thick hard men or thicker harder wimmin
mamma mia ---> Italians

seamus

"Ma". All the way.

Or sometimes, "Here you".

Ludo

dodgyme wrote: »

I think it is broadly along these lines

Mam

---

> working class culchies
Mammy

---

> working class Jackeens
Ma ----> working class Jackeens
Mother ---> working class corkonians pretending to be middleclass
Mum ---> Shower of ejjits who cant make up their mind what class they are
auld lady ---> thick hard men or thicker harder wimmin
mamma mia ---> Italians

What about Mom?