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Often, adding the "long E" sound to a word, be it a name or other noun, connotes a diminutive which is usually a sign of affection. Hence, "daddy". Is that effeminate?

Methinks we're splitting hairs here which is fairly (an adverb) pointless. This is not a grammar forum.

In Gaelic Games they play perhaps the fastest field game on the Planet...Hurling, each player armed with a 3Ft. flat-bossed hurley stick (commaun), the ball being tennis ball- sized pigskin covered (shlither). Goals scored below the bar, points scored above, between the posts. One goal equals three points. Most players wear protective head & face gear nowadays. Ladies play it too, but their game is called Camogie.....that 'ie' ending again.

Back to that word....I have heard items of furniture described as 'comfy'...chairs & sofas, but no use of the word beyond that.

Tom

crfriend wrote:Often, adding the "long E" sound to a word, be it a name or other noun, connotes a diminutive which is usually a sign of affection. Hence, "daddy". Is that effeminate?

From my observation, the word "daddy", or even "mommy" isn't so much a male or female connotation, rather is more of a matter of age on the part of the child, except for "daddy" curiously.

For example, Myself, and all of my southern cousins stopped calling our mothers "mommy" around puberty. We all pretty much call her "mama" now. Mama itself seems to be more of a southern word, whereas those up north graduate from mommy to "mom" Boys and girls in my overall large family all call their mothers "mom" generally sometime after puberty.

"Daddy" is a little different. In my southern side of the family, everyone calls their dad "daddy". Boy, girl, it doesn't matter. I've got 40 year old male cousins that still call their fathers "daddy". However in popular culture, once a child hits puberty, often times they begin calling their fathers "dad". I call my own father "dad". Some girls continue to call their fathers "daddy" after puberty even in "dad" regions. My own daughter is one of them.

Interestingly I've never heard anyone in the real word call their father "dada". I've only heard dada on the movie Willow. If someone were to say it now, I'd assume it had something to do with a cell phone plan (data).

My southern family doesn't use the word "aunt" or "ant" often. They just use the first name of the woman in question. For example, I've got an aunt named Patricia, I've never heard her called "aunt Patricia" in the family, we all simply called her "Patricia". However my northern family uses aunt all the time. For example, I've got an aunt named "Sue" who I've never heard called anything else among my other cousins other than "aunt Sue". I can't see any regional pattern in those using "aunt" or "ant", although I dislike calling aunts ants because an ant is an insect. Aunt seems more proper to me.

I'm pretty easy going, but I do have some silly language pet peeves. I will list a few of them here:

1) People who are born and raised in the U.S. who insist on calling their mother "mum". You don't hear "mummy" too often over here because the decision to call ones mother mum is normally made once the child is old enough to enter the "non conformist" or "trendy" stage. And thus, begins to call the mother "mum". Those raised in the U.S. who insist on spelling color as "colour" also fall into this category. Even my spell check agrees! The whole thing just seems too trendy, which I guess is why it bugs me.

2) "You guys". I HATE the expression "you guys", I hate the word "guy". But especially addressing a group of people with women in the mix as "you guys" annoys the hell out of me. It's "you all"! And I may be southern, but I also hate the expression "ya'll". I always use "you all". How in the world, in our pro-feminist society did it EVER become acceptable to address a mixed gendered group as collective "guys" is beyond me. What would happen if I entered a room full of men and woman and addressed them all as "you gals"? And yes, I hate the word "gal" about as much as I hate "guy".

3) "Ain't" A popular word around these parts. I never use it. I always use "aren't", unless I'm upset at someone, in which I would say "are not". Example: "You are NOT going to talk to me that way!" I generally refrain from contractions when I'm upset.

crfriend wrote:Methinks we're splitting hairs here which is fairly (an adverb) pointless. This is not a grammar forum.

Agreed, it has gotten somewhat silly... er uh... sill? How about ridiculous?

In Texas I notice women and some men frequently address women as ¨Sir¨.

John

moonshadow wrote:For example, Myself, and all of my southern cousins stopped calling our mothers "mommy" around puberty. We all pretty much call her "mama" now. Mama itself seems to be more of a southern word, whereas those up north graduate from mommy to "mom" Boys and girls in my overall large family all call their mothers "mom" generally sometime after puberty.

I grew up with my father, my grandfather, and my grandmother (who did all the "heavy lifting"). Curiously, I always called my father and my grandfather by their first names; my grandmother, however, was always "Mother" and not come cockamamie contraction. "Mummy" seems popular here in the Northeast amongst the preppie-set, although I don't personally know anybody who uses the term. Even stranger is that I never even once referred to my father as "Dad" until after he passed away. Go figure.

"Mama", by the way, I suspect is more popular where French is close to the heritage than elsewhere although that may be pure speculation on my part.

I have aunts -- two of 'em -- and I categorically refuse to call either of them "ants"; depending on the level of formality required I either refer to them by their first names or, in the third-person as my "elder" or "younger" aunt.

Those raised in the U.S. who insist on spelling color as "colour" also fall into this category. Even my spell check agrees! The whole thing just seems too trendy, which I guess is why it bugs me.

Your spelling-critic must be a New World atrocity. I routinely come in for fire for the way I spell when I'm writing -- and I do that for a reason. In speaking company I speak what I've heard called "Network American" which is that bland drone that one hears (or used to) on the national news. Nobody knows where I picked it up, either, because none of my family spoke that way. When writing, however, I use British English and do so as a mnemonic that I am using the written language, which is quite discrete from the spoken one. It's a riot listening to somebody trying to read my writing and who not only has to move his lips but also cannot seem to keep the volume turned down. (Then there was the time I wrote a formal Corporate report in Gothic Horror style in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft (who also wrote in British English). OK, so sue me -- or just call it an affectation. I'll get over it.

Another problem is finding a good British English spelling-checker that hasn't been dumbed down with Americanisms. Most of 'em even when explicitly set to "UK English" will accept the American-style spelling.

"You guys". I HATE the expression "you guys", I hate the word "guy". But especially addressing a group of people with women in the mix as "you guys" annoys the hell out of me. It's "you all"!

Technically, the word "you" is both singular and plural at once -- sort of like "moose". However, to cover this perceived problem, here is one spot where the Southerners in the US get it right with "you all" as a disambiguator. I've been known to make use of if to make myself perfectly clear when speaking.

crfriend wrote:Methinks we're splitting hairs here which is fairly (an adverb) pointless. This is not a grammar forum.

Agreed, it has gotten somewhat silly... er uh... sill? How about ridiculous?

"Pointless" comes to mind, as does "inane". I rather suspect that nobody really gives a hoot so long as the message comes across with a minimum of confusion.

Kirbstone wrote:Back to that word....I have heard items of furniture described as 'comfy'...chairs & sofas, but no use of the word beyond that.
Tom

I have in the back of my mind that there is a Monty Python routine featuring a comfy chair, but I can't dredge it out for sure. Maybe the Spanish Inquisition sketch?

You mean this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY

LMAO!! Okay, comfy is fine,as long as it's just the Brits using it.

dillon wrote:LMAO!! Okay, comfy is fine,as long as it's just the Brits using it.

I'm comfortable with that.