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Kneazle View Drop Down
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    Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 9:12pm
Hello!

I'm from New Zealand where we spell using English rather than American English spelling which usually isn't too much of an issue.

My short story is set in the US and given that if my main character mentions her mother I should really write it Mom rather than Mum shouldn't I? For reasons I can't articulate I have real issues with the work Mom when it's written down and it seems inherently wrong but I don't want to lose points for this.

Thoughts?
Anyone else got random questions that don't really have a home?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dtill359 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 9:17pm
Originally posted by Kneazle Kneazle wrote:


My short story is set in the US and given that if my main character mentions her mother I should really write it Mom rather than Mum shouldn't I?


US person here.

Yes, we use "Mom." Here in the Southeastern US, "Momma" is also commonly used.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kneazle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 9:46pm
Yeah it just looks so wrong! I know I have to get over myself because the story can't really be set anywhere else.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Random Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 9:50pm
Originally posted by Kneazle Kneazle wrote:

Yeah it just looks so wrong! I know I have to get over myself because the story can't really be set anywhere else.


There are three hundred and some-odd million 'muricans, and at least one of them says 'mum'.  Don't sweat the petty stuff, just be consistent.  Maybe five words somewhere about how they mix their British and correct English and then forget about it.

Did you like how I did that?  Subtle, right?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:00pm
I'm in Australia and I used Mom in my first round MF.
It didn't sit quite right and we discussed it a bit on my story thread at the time.
Half saying it was fine, half saying use what's right for you, the judges are supposed to accept non US spelling. In the end I stuck with Mom because I didn't want to risk a funny judge.
I then without thinking about it used sandpit where as the more common US term would be sandbox, so I did mix both. That being said, I got through to next round with good feedback and no mention of either term. I think though as you mentioned the story is set there then it makes sense to use Mom and being as the judges are I assume in the US then they won't even blink at it. It only looks wrong to us!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dtill359 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:22pm
@Kneazle,

I'd be glad to give your story a look to check for US/UK differences, if you like.
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iress View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote iress Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:45pm
Originally posted by Kneazle Kneazle wrote:

Hello!

I'm from New Zealand where we spell using English rather than American English spelling which usually isn't too much of an issue.

My short story is set in the US and given that if my main character mentions her mother I should really write it Mom rather than Mum shouldn't I? For reasons I can't articulate I have real issues with the work Mom when it's written down and it seems inherently wrong but I don't want to lose points for this.

Thoughts?
Anyone else got random questions that don't really have a home?

I get you. It's an intimate word and one of our first, so when writing a character whose experience is not our cultural norm, it feels odd.  Living in the U.S., I feel if anyone said "mum" I'd immediately wonder where they were from outside the U.S. Maybe they live here full time now, but I'd put money on it that they grew up somewhere else. Same way if I wrote a character from a non U.S. English part of the world and said "mom" it would likely stand out. I've lived outside the U.S. and my "mom" usage has been pointed out to me. But any version of Mom, Momma, Ma, or in my area mamá  (Southwest) sounds to me "like home."  I'd keep true to the cultural expectation in the case of the judges.









Edited by iress - 16 Jan 2022 at 10:46pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nellsbells Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jan 2022 at 9:44pm
Yes to "Mom" instead of "Mum." Although, if you want to obviate the problem entirely, I guess you could go with "Ma" or "Mama", if it feels organic to the character. That said, I would have a few Americans read it over for odd differences. 

I remember reading a romance novel series I like for the first time (I've reread it since) and being kind of thrown... The author is British, but the novel is set in America, and while most of it was ok, there was the occasional thing that would trip me up, like "fringe" - which, here, is bangs, and fringe is like a trim on a garment, or how her characters end their dialogue in "yeah." As in, "You're coming over to my place later, yeah?" So... just that there's things like that, which you won't think of, but will feel inconsistent to an American reader. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Popsicle Crows Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jan 2022 at 12:48pm
We use both in Canada plus the French.
It's funny how language can take us out of a story for a bit. When I read the word 'whilst', my brain hears historical fiction yet my UK friends and family use that word every day. 
I flip back and forth with -ise and -ize as well. The only Canadianism that seems etched in stone is the ou in honour etc. 

I've only ever seen one set of guidelines that specify which English version to use and it's a New Zealand publication. Everyone else seems to just ask for consistency. Tough ask for a Canadian, we think it's all correct LOL

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JanetM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jan 2022 at 6:15pm
Funny this conversation came up. I'm currently not wanting to change cheque to check. The struggle!!
Check always seems wrong to me.
G81 SS The Momento
Micro250 The Younger Man HM
R2 G10 Rhyming The Substitute HM
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