Re: Mom

[Laurie Rubin <lmr -at- SYL -dot- NJ -dot- NEC -dot- COM>]

This is not exactly a tech writing thread, but, it sure is something light
for midweek.  I grew up in California, then lived outside of the states and on
the East Coast since I was 21 (okay, 17 years ago!).  Do this day, I still call
my mother "Mom" and do so for my mother-in-law.  I used to call my Dad either
"Dad" or "Daddy" until he died,  and always use "Dad" for my father-in-law,
even catching myself calling him "Daddy" at times.  I never refer to my
parents (including in-laws) as "Mother" or "Father."  I even try to avoid
cards that use those words.   My husband is from New York, and has always
referred to his parents and my mom in the same manner!
I wonder if it has to do with what your parents tell you to call them when you
are young, and then those terms just become familiar and comfortable.  I am
not certain there is a geographical relationship to the people and the words,
but rather a personal relationship for some.  Mother and Father seem extremely
formal, and, to me, may express a somewhat distanced relationship between
child and parent.

What I also  find interesting is that the word  "aunt" is pronounced
differently in different parts of the country.
Laurie

O.K. back to work...

> Jan Boomsliter asks:
> |} Let me throw this one Out There: do adults in all regions of the
> |} country call their mothers "Mom?"
> |}

> Let's see, born in Montana, raised in Idaho, Montana, and Washington.
> I would never refer to my Mom as Mother or my Dad as Father. Just
> doesn't sit right. Gather from that what you will.

>     _______________   _____
>    /  ___  __/__\  \ /  / _\    Steve Fouts
>   /___ \|  |  ___\  |  /  __\   sfouts -at- ellison -dot- sc -dot- ti -dot- com
>  /   /  \  |      \   /      \
> /_______/__|_______\_/________\ "She understood, as he did, that all writing
> was infernally boring and futile, but that it had to be done out of respect
> for tradition"                  --Stanislaw Lem