Re: Mom

[Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU>]

Laurie Rubin writes:

> 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 suspect this has a great deal to do with the choices of terms we
use--more so than geographical or emotional distance, although this
probably applies at times.  I was born and raised in the Southwest. I use
the terms "Mom" and "Mother" interchangeably with equal comfort--and I am
close to my mother.  Dad, however was always "Dad" or "Daddy," never
"Father."   Perhaps because there is both a university and a military base
here, I know people from just about every region in the country.  While
there is some variety in the terms used--some say "Momma" and "Papa,"
others "Mom" and "Dad" or "Daddy,"  and still others use non-standard pet
names for their parents, I have yet to detect any distinct patterns unique
to a geographical region.  My suspicion is that even if such
geographically related patterns once existed, the communication media have
had their influence in generalizing the language here, too.


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                RoMay Sitze                 rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu

                Practice makes perfect--or perfectly awful.
                It depends on what you practice.

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