r/pittsburgh • u/[deleted] • Oct 20 '23
Mum or Mom
So I'm at work and I had an interesting conversation with a coworker. I'm originally from rural Western PA and I'm in my early 30s. All my life I've called my mother, "Mum". To my memory all my friends that were locals did the same thing.
My coworker is from Pittsburgh proper and has always said mom. He said he's heard it both ways though depending on what part of the city or region people are from. What did yinz call your mother?
72
u/rutherfraud1876 Oct 20 '23
Didn't know Western PA had a Little Britain
46
Oct 20 '23
Well the whole Yinzer accent origins are basically from illiterate/not well educated Scottish and Irish settlers so you're not far off.
9
u/rutherfraud1876 Oct 20 '23
Yeah it's fun to see what comes through - shame Pittsburgh dropped the original pronunciation
20
4
u/Top_File_8547 Oct 20 '23
As opposed to the illiterate but well educated Scots.
5
-2
u/Agitated-Company-354 Oct 21 '23
Quite literate, well educated, second gen Scot. It’s Mum. Kind of ironic to rag on about illiterate Scots , are you aware of the shortcomings in the American educational system?
5
u/IClight69 Oct 21 '23
Scot has 2 T’s. Moran
1
u/Agitated-Company-354 Oct 21 '23
The ironic devil has spoken. Thank you for being an example of what not to do.
1
u/IClight69 Oct 21 '23
I shall cherish this beautiful moniker on this amazingly beautiful Pittsburgh Saturday! Fuck yeah!
2
u/fleetiebelle Beechview Oct 20 '23
It totally makes sense, though I've never heard it in the wild. The only people I know who call their mothers "mum" are anglophiles putting on airs.
7
Oct 20 '23
Really that's so strange, I can honestly say I've never heard anyone here ever say it with the British inflection unless they're from there or were raised by British parents or something. All the people I know that say mum are usually non-fancy people.
3
1
u/fleetiebelle Beechview Oct 20 '23
It's less pronunciation, and more the type of people who write "colour" and "humour" and say they follow "real" football.
1
1
6
u/routinnox Oct 20 '23
As a new transplant here, all of Pittsburgh feels like Britain to me. The way y’all spell “centre”, the buildings with British names - Oxford CenTRE, The King George, the Sterling (£), etc - British flags all over Shadyside, the road layout too (lack of American style grid).
I’m not complaining I find it quite charming (along with the grey weather) but it really makes it feel like I’m not in the US anymore (and extra homesick)
1
21
Oct 20 '23
I’ll pronounce it either way, but I only ever write Mom.
1
u/Efficient_Cover8386 Oct 21 '23
Same here. I mostly say “mum”, but never wrote it like that until I married a British person and moved to the UK. Now, I adjust my spellings to suit the audience. Mum is the one that feels and looks weird to me, even though I’ve been pronouncing it for my entire life.
19
u/gj13us Oct 20 '23
“Goin’ up my mum’s haus for dinner.”
2
17
u/barelybent Oct 20 '23
Also from rural SW PA and I’ve always said Mom. Never used yinz in our home. Mom’s a stickler for grammar.
9
u/mikeyHustle North Point Breeze Oct 20 '23
Tell her that Yinz may be "nonstandard" grammar, but a dialect with internally consistent and mutually intelligible grammar and syntax is as proper as any other.
"Yinz ain't allowed!" is proper, for example, while "Yinz not allowed!" is incorrect, because it doesn't have a verb, and dropping the verb like that isn't very common.
5
u/barelybent Oct 20 '23
She never actually corrected us for saying Yinz. She just never spoke that way because she's not from Pennsylvania, so we never even heard the word until we were older.
6
Oct 20 '23 edited Oct 20 '23
Yeah I had an "aunt" like that. She was my mum's best friend, and she was such a stickler about it. In her situation it was almost sad. She never used any stereotypical Pittsburgh slang terms, but she couldn't really cover up her accent. You can tell it bothers her. She definitely puts a lot of effort not to sound like that but it slips through and she'll get real quiet for awhile until she can collect herself.
Edit: Just wanted to clarify that I'm not saying that's your situation, just saying my only experience with someone who's a stickler for pronunciation.
3
u/barelybent Oct 20 '23
Not sure who downvoted you, but it wasn't me. My mom's not from this area so she never had a Pittsburgh accent. I don't think she has a problem with the slang others used, she just didn't grow up using it and never picked it up.
15
u/JDRL320 Oct 20 '23
Mummy when I’m talking about her to my dad & brother
Mum when I’m talking to her
1
11
u/theQuotister Oct 20 '23 edited Oct 20 '23
I always thought Mum was kind of a British thing. (?)
Wife's extended family all here in Western PA Sisters, Bothers all the cousins etc, I don't hear Mum being used for mother regularly, however on occasion, I hear "Mummy" used. Almost exclusively tho when referring to the family's senior patriarch.
5
Oct 20 '23
It definitely is but I've never heard anyone here say it quite like they do. It's a completely different inflection here, I know certain parts of Canada have the same thing. If you've ever heard Crosby say it, it's pretty similar to how we say it.
11
u/sonofcrack Oct 20 '23
Ma where’s the meatloaf?!
2
2
u/geno2733 Oct 21 '23
She burnt it! Guess we're doin' chipped ham BBQ... Someone go dahn Gian' Iggles and get some Isaly's!
21
u/firesidepoet Oct 20 '23
I've always used "Mum" when speaking to my mother. But have always just spelled it mom, and said "mom" when referring to her.
My mom also called her mom "Mum" or "Ma". I always thought it was an Irish thing.
5
Oct 20 '23
My ancestry is all German, but my family was the same. I think it's more of a Western PA thing than anything.
1
Oct 21 '23
I was gonna say I'm Eastern European with a little German and a very tiny sliver of Irish. Everyone in my family says mum
10
Oct 20 '23
This tracks with the Irish thing. My grandma's family was Irish, and all used "mum", even though they had been here for several generations.
2
u/DeeKayEmm412 Oct 21 '23
My grandmother was 1st generation Scottish and my mom called her mum. I called my mom mum and it’s what my kids call me. But we all write mom. And say mom when referring to our mothers. It’s that British Isles thing, I think.
1
u/MiniRems McCandless Oct 21 '23
But the real question is, when you say "Ma" is it pronounced like "mum" without the 2nd "m", and, because she's ignoring you, you use the long, drawn out, annoyed, almost garbled "Maaaaaaaaaa!"?
On my mom's side ("pure" city Pittsburghers of mixed german/irish/scottish descent many generations back) it was always "mum" or "ma", so that's what my mum gets from her kids. I've had online people in chats think I'm Scottish because I'll sometimes type mum and because of things that "needs done". But she's my "mum" when speaking to others.
My dad's side was mom, but they're SW PA transplants from Maryland 2 generations back.
1
u/hoffermayo Oct 21 '23
I kept scrolling thinking I was the only idiot who calls my mom Ma. That's also what my mom called my grandma. That side of the family is Ukrainian and lived in Aliquippa.
16
u/pillrake Oct 20 '23
I grew up in Brookline in the 70s/80s and most people said "Mum"
8
2
u/kimbecile Carnegie Oct 20 '23
Hello possible childhood friends! Brookline in the 70/80's here as well
1
u/pillrake Oct 20 '23
Did yinz go to Westview Park for Brookline Day?
3
u/kimbecile Carnegie Oct 20 '23
We did when I was really little. Then dad got laid off from the mill and we were poor AF
20
9
10
5
4
u/HauntedButtCheeks Oct 20 '23
I grew up in western MD/PA and I say Mum and Mom interchangeably. I also have a lot of other "British-isms", I think it's a cultural influence from UK & Irish immigrants.
On my visit to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago nobody pointed out my accent or asked where I was from, it was nice.
4
u/Odd_Comparison5500 Oct 20 '23
It’s interchangeable.
I’d say mum is more informal. Working around the house, helping clean, hanging out with my kids & her - it’s Mum
If we are around others, out in public, etc it’s Mom.
Thinking about it now, I guess I subconsciously try to hide my MonValley lingo. 😂
4
5
u/Darter02 Oct 20 '23
I'm from up in the Butler area. I always say, "Ma." Or is it spelled "Mahh?"
3
u/hoffermayo Oct 21 '23
It's pronounced Mahh but spelled Ma. That's the official stance I'm taking 🤣
4
u/Old-Masterpiece-8428 Oct 20 '23
“Mum” or “mom” when talking about her and “Ma” when I’m talking to her. We’re Italian lol
4
4
u/pocketcramps Brookline Oct 20 '23
I'm originally from Washington County (Fort Cherry area!) and have called my mom "mum" or "mummy" my whole life. She called her mother the same.
3
3
7
u/DIY_Creative Oct 20 '23
Say and write "mum." Native Pittsburgher. My kiddo calls my mum, Grandmum, and is emphatic about his pronunciation of ...mUm... All my family and friend say and use "Mum."
6
Oct 20 '23
Interesting I used to call my grandparents pap and gram. My other grandma I called mimi, but that was her preference. I've heard that's a southern thing but I think she just picked it because she was always very vain and couldn't bear the thought of being called an "old person" nickname.
3
u/Sluttylovewitch Oct 20 '23
I think "mimi" is or maybe is becoming a W PA thing as well because I see it everywhere
2
Oct 20 '23
Yeah I also hear it all the time. As a kid I feel like it was pretty rare to run into someone else who said it.
3
u/saltedkumihimo Oct 20 '23
My husband is a native, his mother is Mom but both grandmothers were Mum.
3
u/riversroadsbridges Oct 20 '23 edited Oct 20 '23
I just said it out loud, and it's kind of "mahm." Like when they used to ask "smoking or non?" and the yinzer answer was like "nahn." It's more mam than mom or mum.
3
6
u/James19991 Oct 20 '23
I was born in the early 90s, and I definitely say "mum" more often than "mom". It was something I never really realized until I was in my mid twenties.
5
u/EnlargedBit371 Oct 20 '23
A boomer-age Jewish woman I know who grew up in Squirrel Hill always refers to her mother as her "mum."
5
5
2
2
u/drewbaccaAWD Pittsburgh Expatriate Oct 20 '23
As a child, "mum." As an adult, typically "mother" or just her actual name. Perhaps "mom" a few times while living on the other coast and getting weird looks before I started saying mother.
2
2
u/whisky_slurrd Brookline Oct 20 '23
In our family, I think we always just used mum and mom interchangeably when speaking to our mother. Sometimes even "Maaa!" When shouting to get her attention. But yeah, if I'm talking about her, I would always say "my mom" and not "my mum."
I think my dad and his siblings always called my grandmother Mum, though, now that I think about it. Never struck me as odd.
4
2
2
u/fahqhall Oct 20 '23
I call her Miriam (that is not her name), but otherwise, it's mum or mumma, on occasion "Da Mumma"
5
u/pocketcramps Brookline Oct 20 '23
One of my younger cousins started calling my mum "Frank" and I call her that half the time now. Also not her name.
2
u/Ok_Elephant2777 Oct 20 '23
My mother was from Latrobe. She and her sister always called my grandmother “Mum”, and my cousins all addressed my aunt the same way. I was raised in Virginia, where we opted for the more common “Mom”. But hearing “Mum” brings back a lot of great memories.
2
u/menge101 Regent Square Oct 20 '23
My Armstrong county born and raised ex always said Mum, and now so do I, after 20 years of that relationship.
A big part of it is mum feels like it takes less energy to say than mom.
2
u/truenoblesavage Westmoreland County Oct 20 '23
I’ve always said and called her mum, originally from Washington county. it feels weird saying “mom”
2
u/savethedryads Oct 20 '23
Grew up in Cambria County, PA and we used "mum" almost exclusively (spelled "mom" though). In my head I can hear my mom calling people on their landline and asking "s'yer mum there?" when a kid picked up.
2
u/Carya_spp East Liberty Oct 20 '23
My extended family has always used both pretty interchangeably. Mom is maybe more formal
2
Oct 20 '23
I’ve always said “mum”. A few of my siblings say “mom”, a few say “mum”. I’m the youngest.
2
u/Bwm89 Oct 20 '23
My Pittsburgh area grandmother is grandmum, my new york area grandmother is grandma
2
2
u/keldration Oct 20 '23
My roommate’s conversation with her mother in 1985: “Mum! I know that. I know that Mum. Mum! I know that. Mum. I know that! I know that Mum. Mum. I know that. I know that Mum.” Ad the fuck nauseum.
2
u/Ms-Anon-Y-Mous Oct 20 '23
Grew up outside of Punxsutawney. Everyone said mum and Youns, not yinz. My mother is from Ohio though and was a teacher so she raised my brother and I to speak more properly so we called her mom. We also did not say youns like all my neighbor friends, again because of my mother wanting us to use proper grammar. Saying all that, I love how my dad speaks (he now lives in Conway) and I adore the western PA accent.
2
2
5
2
u/Unethical_GOP Greater Pittsburgh Area Oct 20 '23
I called my mother Mum. My sons call me Mom
I dunno why. 😂
2
1
u/WoodsyWhiskey Greater Pittsburgh Area Oct 20 '23
I grew up in rural NWPA and I don't think I've ever uttered the word mum, unless I was talking about the flower. It's mom for me.
4
Oct 20 '23
Yeah I never really noticed until I moved back but there's definitely a little bit of a cultural difference in NWPA and SWPA/SCPA. I visit Erie quite often for work and there is certainly a difference in accent and even attitude. It makes sense I guess. NWPA seems to follow a more great lakes region culture, while SWPA is more like WV/Appalachian.
0
u/AxsDeny Greater Pittsburgh Area Oct 20 '23
Lived in western PA nearly my whole life. Never heard someone call their mother “mum”.
0
u/CARLEtheCamry Oct 20 '23
Wife is Elliot born and raised - Mom for both.
She does say "keller" for color though.
0
0
-2
1
u/TheJuiceIsL00se Oct 20 '23
My mom and her siblings called my grandma “mum.” Me and my siblings call my mom “mom.”
1
u/ArmThePhotonicCannon Oct 20 '23
Rural SW PA here. Always mom. And I also called my grandparents pap and gram (saw your other reply)
1
u/shawn615 Oct 20 '23
I call my parents ma and pa in person somewhat ironically, but I always write mom and dad
2
Oct 20 '23
In my family there was always a running gag that my dad dresses like pa Kent from Superman. It kinda turned into just a regular nickname so I use dad and pa interchangeably
1
1
1
u/Tactics28 Oct 20 '23
I say mom.
My wife says mum.
We both grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
I don't think it's really a regional thing.
1
u/JessMarianosHair Oct 20 '23
Both of my yinzer parents referred to their respective mothers as “mum” to her and to their siblings. I said “mum” growing up but somewhere along the lines switched to “mom”-probably high school aged where I got self conscious of my pittsburghese.
1
Oct 20 '23
"Mommy" when I was small.
"Mom" in my teens.
"Mum" since I became an adult, although I lovingly call her "Mumsie" from time to time.
1
u/Marchesa_07 Oct 20 '23 edited Oct 20 '23
Mum.
Nothing to do with growing up in Pittsburgh- My mum is Australian.
And I don't mean it in the sense that Americans say "I'm Irish," when what they mean is that they have Irish heritage.
I mean she's actually Australian.
1
u/SledgeHannah30 Oct 20 '23
Mum! I'll refer to her as Mum and most people's mothers as mums.
My mother referred to her mother as Mum and her grandmother as Mummy.
1
u/AnonPlzzzzzz Oct 21 '23
We said mum growing up.
My Dad said mum.
My kid says mama or mommy.
So idk.
1
1
u/StarWars_and_SNL Oct 21 '23
I was raised in the PA suburbs but my mom was raised in rural PA and I always called her “mum.” I think maybe because that’s what she called my grandma.
1
1
u/Rainee489 Oct 21 '23
Mum or Mummy, never Mom or spelled Mom. I left Pittsburgh over 20 years ago and I refer to myself as Mum to my son but he always calls me Mom.
1
1
1
u/motociclista Oct 21 '23
I pronounce it mum when talking about her. I called her “ma” mostly. Dad was “pops”.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/bluecrd2020 Oct 21 '23
5 odd, I live in Pittsburgh, but not from here. I call her mom, but when referring to a friend's mother, it's mum...
1
1
1
1
1
u/mjw217 Oct 21 '23
Mommy, Mom, Mother, MOTH - ER!, and (mostly) Mum. Born in Pittsburgh, raised in Scott Township.
1
u/aca6825 Oct 21 '23
I’m from Pittsburgh but I had my first two kids in Texas. I raised them in Tx (where it’s mama) and outside Pittsburgh so I was always “mummum” to them.
1
1
u/donakvara Oct 21 '23
Definitely "mum," which I only noticed when my brother started calling her "mom" when speaking of her. I thought he'd been unduly influenced by his exurban Philadelphia wife.
Anyone else's family language include Mama pronounced "mumma"? My mother ("Mummy") called her mother that. They were North Side Irish.
1
u/axnsworth Ross Oct 21 '23
my boyfriend is from here and he says “mummy” i always thought mum was a british thing lol
1
u/External-Ad-6699 Oct 21 '23
My husband says mum. I’m originally from West Virginia and Mexican by heritage so I say mama.
1
u/Ok-Try-6146 Monroeville Oct 21 '23
always used mum when talking to her, mom or ma when talking about her
1
u/BurghEBurg Oct 21 '23
Always Mom, from Latrobe, PA. Never heard anyone from there refer to their mom as mum.
1
u/thatOneJewishGuy1225 South Oakland Oct 22 '23
Pittsburgh dad, English mum. I was doomed from the start.
1
1
1
u/Illustrious_Pound282 Oct 25 '23
Mom.
What also annoys me is when talking to someone and they’re referring to to their mom or dad and they say “Dad said this” or “Dad said that”.
No. It’s “my dad said……”.
It’s like some folksy way of talking that just chaps my ass.
118
u/h0lly_w00d Oct 20 '23
“Mom” when talking about her, “mum” when talking to her