A question for the British posters

[happyninja42]

So whenever I see any footage, either in movies or real life footage, of various British people talking about the Queen, they always sound like they call her "Mum". For example, in the movie The Queen, with Helen Mirran, there is a shot of several British citizens curtsying in front of her, and saying a very respectful "Yes mum" to her question to them.
I don't know if it's simply a question of the way I'm hearing their accent, and they're actually saying "maam", but it sounds like you would spell it as MUM. Which seems to my American mind as a very familiar, and casual term for The Queen.

Now, that being said, the Southern gentleman in me was raised to call women I don't know as "Maam", which is an all purpose term of respect for a woman you aren't familiar with, so in one sense saying MUM as we say MAAM would make sense, and be somewhat formal and respectful, but I just don't know if that is the case here.

So what is it you Brits are actually saying ? Is it Mum? If so, what is this supposed to be a usage for? Is it sort of a variant of Mom, thus Queen Mother, thus calling her as if she was your mother? Is it similar to the southern american Maam? What is the source of the word Mum for The Queen? Thanks!

 

[shootthebandit]

Its maam which i belive is short for madame. We use the word mum in the same way you use mom but not in reference to the queen

 

[Phasmal]

It's ma'am. But some of us do say it a bit funny so it can sound a lot like marm or mum.

 

[Stasisesque]

It's ma'am as in ham, not ma'am as in farm. Lower class people, or domestic servants would say "mum" when referring to their employers, but that hasn't been the case for about 100 years. That was just due to "low breeding". I suppose some regional accents could pronounce "ma'am" as "mum" but I'm struggling to think which. Cockney, perhaps. But again, unfortunately they are still considered common.

These days, mum is what we call our mothers. It's not got anything to do with the Queen.

 

[Wickatricka]

Yeah I'm not British but even I know that's what they call their mothers.

 

[Genericjim101]

I concur that they are in fact saying "ma'am". I can't say personally I ever referred to my parent as mum. Always mother.
I did know a strange fellow from the Midlands that referred to his mother as mom. That's just simply not the done thing over here 0_o.

 

[happyninja42]

K, so it's mostly just the way I'm hearing them say "maam" and not "mum". *nods* Gotcha, thanks for the clarification!

 

[SckizoBoy]

Thanks!

Y'welcome...

As others have pointed out, it's a contraction of 'ma'am', but the actual pronunciation of the pre- and post-contraction 'a' is strangely different. Typically, spoken fully, it's 'mah-'m' with a low tone, but as in Helen Mirren's film, it's shortened to (as Stasisesque pointed out) 'mam' rhyming with 'ham'. It sounding like 'mum' can be put down to one of two things (or both). One, speaking quickly (which the British English foible basically demands of that particular expression), or two, the further contraction of 'yes madam', through 'yes ma'am' to 'yes'm', typically rendered as 'yessum'. When C19th century servants spoke to their seniors among staff, it was with that, which affected how they addressed the older members of the family.

*shrug*

 

[Able Seacat]

According to The official website of the British Monarchy on presentation to The Queen, the correct formal address is 'Your Majesty' and subsequently 'Ma'am'.

I believe before meeting the Queen it's common for a representative to tell you how to address the Queen and tells you to pronounce it as 'mum' but not sure why.