"Pop-Pop" revisited

[Tom Kysilko]

Those who use "mor-mor" for grandmother, use "pa-pa" (equal emphasis, equal
vowels, not PA-p@ or p at -PA) for grandfather.  In my acquaintance these are
Minnesotans of Swedish descent, but perhaps it is more widespread(?)  Anyway,
this pa-pa could also be mis-heard as "pop-pop".
--Tom Kysilko

Quoting Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIOU.EDU>:

> And one more:  If she did say Papa, that's not far from Papaw, which IS
> grandfather in much of the Appalachian/South Midland region (Mamaw is
> grandmother).  In fact, I've heard Papa and Mama used for grandparents too,
> but rarely.
>
> That doesn't negate your suggestion that Pop Pop might also have wider
> currency, of course.  The books I have on British English don't deal with
> lexical variation very much, but I wonder if anyone knows whether either
> Papa/Papaw or Pop Pop is used in Britain?
>
> At 08:25 AM 6/3/2004 -0400, you wrote:
<snip-snip>
> >At least I heard it as "Pop-Pop", and I played the tape three or four times
> >to check.  Harris mumbled the title; it could have been "Papa" but that
> sounds
> >unlikely as a title for one's grandfather.
> >        - James A. Landau