Wondering about something

[goodnight]

On the show, all of the kids called John, Daddy. Even after they grew up. Now that might have been a regional dialect thing. But he called his parents Ma and Pa. Maybe it would have seemed to silly for a fortysomething man to call his father Daddy.

[Deleted]

I notice this too. He cold have referred to Zeb as dad instead of daddy. So maybe it was a generational thing.

[clb458]

I think it is a southern thing maybe. I called my father Daddy until he died. He was in his 80's and I was in my 40's. I hear lots of men down here call their fathers Daddy.

[kimmy77]

It is a regional thing, here in my part of VA most of us, men or women, call them mamma and daddy even when when we are grown. Goodnight, my Momma is from WV and I remember one time being up there and my brother, who was fully grown called our father "Daddy". My aunt thought it was cute. I remember thinking why is that cute? Everyone says that.
However, I have never heard anyone call them Ma and Pa no matter the age.

[Deleted]

Yes, BUT John calls Zeb PA not Daddy or dad

[kimmy77]

Dec 2, 2011 20:52:53 GMT -5 @tankeryanker said:

Yes, BUT John calls Zeb PA not Daddy or dad

I've never understood that either.

[JeriJet]

In NY (urban and suburban).....
We called my father Daddy, mostly, until he died at 85 -- sometimes referred to as Dad if others were present. So, I guess it is not strictly "Southern"..... He was Grandpa to his grandchildren. My Mom was Mommy as kids, later shortened to Mom; Grandma to her grandchildren.

Dad's father, my grandfather, was Pa as long as I knew him -- but I believe my father called him Dad (never Daddy) until we grandchildren came along, then everyone called him Pa...... Dad's mother (to him) was either Mom or Mother for his entire life (interchangeable). To her grandchildren, she was Meemah (Dutch)....

In NY (rural).....
My Mom called her father Dad and her mother, "Mother." I asked her about that once and she told me it had always been "Mother." Odd..... You would think, on the farm, something like Mama would have been more appropriate.... Strangely, we grandchildren included her last name -- "Grandma Gridley." She was divorced from my Mom's father, "Grandpa Williams."

[childfree23]

In my family (Middlesex County, NJ, when I was young), my mother called her mother Mom and her dad Pop. My father called his mother Mom and his father Dad. When I came along, I called my mother's parents Grandma and Poppy, and my father's parents Nonna* and Grandpa. According to the "wisdom" of my pre-school self, all the grandparents had to have different names.

* Nonna is Italian for grandmother. However, my dad's family is not Italian, but Greek. It's what he called his grandmother, and the name was carried up to my generation.

Debby

[goodnight]

Of course in the south a lot, you have got Pawpaw and Mawmaw at lot for grandparents

In Little Women, it was Marmee for Mother, I've never seen that anywhere else

In another series of books I read called The Awakening Land, the mothers are called Mam. This series of books is about pioneers in the early days of Ohio, late 1700's and early 1800's.

[dfnmeows44]

It depwnds not only where you are but what you are referring to---you can talk about a group of mothers
as 'with the moms.' Some people speak of their dad as Papa(then his last name)..

[Deleted]

Still does not explain why in ONE family there are TWO names for the same thing

[Marilyn]

I've wondered that too Scarlett.

[Rhonda]

I agree, it seems odd so I'm thinking that it was done for our benefit. In my sleep deprived brain it made sense but not sure how to say it. Just like there was two Johns ~ one John and one John Boy. So there was two Mothers one called Ma and the other called Mama, the same with the Fathers and Grandfathers. I don't know what I'm saying and should probably erase and not post this . . naw, maybe some other sleep deprived soul will understand it. Have a good day

[bucky]

My father called his parents Mama and Papa. My mother called hers Mother and Dad. We called our parents Mom and Dad. Go figure

[jlm64]

I don't think that it was done for our benefit, I think that when you live in a multi-generational setting, it just seems to happen. My parents live with my family and I always called my father Dad until the kids where born. They started calling "my father " PAPA and their father Dad (like it should be but then I started calling my father Pup or Papa when all my life I called him Dad. It is more to save the family some confusion. (not viewers)