[Ads-l] Media Inquiry (Mike Pence calling his wife "Mother")

[Jonathan Lighter]

I wish I could offer a precise example, but this was occasionally used in
movies by small-town, middle-aged fathers in the '30s or '40s.

For some reason I hear the voice of Lionel Barrymore or Lewis Stone.

OTOH, the corresponding "Father" seems not to ring so loud a bell.

JL

On Fri, Feb 3, 2017 at 1:17 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> > On Feb 3, 2017, at 12:41 PM, Margaret Winters <mewinters at WAYNE.EDU>
> wrote:
> >
> > I have no insight into timing, but it reminds me of adult children who
> call their parents Grandma and Grandpa (or some variation of it) once they
> have children of their own.
> >
> >
> > Margaret
>
> But there’s also a distinction between *referring* to them as “Mom”,
> “Dad”, “Grandma”, and “Grandpa” when addressing the children who bear that
> relation to them and *addressing* them as “Mother”, “Father”, “Grandma”,
> “Grandpa”, especially when the children are not “ratified overhearers”, if
> that’s the correct term.  Context is important. When you’re in bed with
> your spouse and address them as “Dad” or “Mom”:  that, I believe, reflects
> a different practice.  My no doubt prejudiced impression is that if you do
> it (viz., use these as terms of address) in the kitchen, maybe you’re from
> the Midwest and probably you vote for people like Mike Pence.
>
> LH
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------
> > MARGARET E WINTERS
> > Professor Emerita
> > French and Linguistics
> > Wayne State University
> > Detroit, MI  48202
> >
> > mewinters at wayne.edu
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at MST.EDU>
> > Sent: Friday, February 3, 2017 12:34 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Fw: Media Inquiry (Mike Pence calling his wife "Mother")
> >
> > Dear members of ads-l,
> >
> >
> > I received the inquiry below (about men who call their wives "Mother").
> Would anyone
> >
> > anyone be able to provide Ms. Garau information/insight/etc. about this?
> >
> >
> > Gerald Cohen
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Annie Garau <annie at pbh-network.com<mailto:annie at pbh-network.com>>
> > Sent: Friday, February 3, 2017 9:51 AM
> > To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> > Subject: Fwd: Media Inquiry
> >
> >
> > Hi Professor Cohen,
> >
> > My name is Annie Garau and I'm an editor and writer for the site All
> That Is Interesting.
> >
> > I'm reaching out because a recent Rolling Stone article suggested that
> Vice President Mike Pence calls his wife "mother." I know this is a trivial
> topic in the context of an administration with such serious consequences.
> But, the Internet is intrigued nonetheless and I'm trying to find out the
> linguistic roots of calling your spouse "mother."
> >
> > Was this ever a common use of the word? Do people in some areas still do
> that? How does a nickname like that come to be used in a family? Does it
> get passed down through generations?
> >
> > I read about some of your work and thought you might have some insight
> into this matter. Any relevant information you might be able to share, or
> recommendations of other people to reach out to would be so helpful.
> >
> > Thank you very much for your time!
> >
> > All the Best,
> >
> > Annie
> >
> > 317-514-4379<tel:(317)%20514-4379>
> > https://www.facebook.com/AllThatIsInteresting/
> > [https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/
> 11846786_493243797524306_3286254161016111384_n.jpg?oh=
> 64ef20a3452c6b247412be5c478d6230&oe=591BA3E4]<https://www.facebook.com/
> AllThatIsInteresting/>
> >
> > All That Is Interesting | Facebook<https://www.facebook.
> com/AllThatIsInteresting/>
> > www.facebook.com
> > All That Is Interesting. 651,529 likes · 36,257 talking about this. Your
> curiosity knows no bounds. Neither do we.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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