Capitalization of Mother and Mom

Pamster · Aug 3, 2007

Hey everyone. Word is telling me to leave Mom uncapped here:

Becky nodded. "Yes mom, we'll be sure to bury it somewhere that won't be noticeable."

But I think it should be capped because the rule is if it has a pronoun preceeding it, it's lowercase, and in this case it's not preceeded by a pronoun, so wouldn't it be capitalized? Am I wrong in what I think is the rule? Is Mom always uncapped or are you supposed to cap it when there is no pronoun before it indicating possession?

Also what about nicknames? Are those supposed to be capitalized too? I've been capping them and figured I could ask about it in this topic since it's about capitalization anyway. Thanks in advance for the advice and validation or correction, whichever case it proves to be.

Jersey Chick · Aug 3, 2007

Mom and Mother would be in caps if referring to a specific person -

i.e. "Mother Teresa" or "Hi, Mom."

If you're referring to someone who is a mother or a mom, it wouldn't be capped.

i.e. "Are you a mom?" "Where's your mother?"

Nicknames are capped - they're proper names.

Hope this helps!

Dawno · Aug 3, 2007

The way I remember the Mom/mom rule is if you can use a proper name in place of the word, capitalize it. So in that sentence you could say "Yes, Dawno" so it does need to be capitalized. Nicknames are names, so I think they'd always be capitalized, too. The grammar check in Word is notorious for being wonky. You can't always trust it and a lot of writers recommend you turn it off.

Disclaimer: I'm not a grammar maven. I often get it wrong.

ETA: cross posted with Jersey Chick - but at least we agree!

Roger J Carlson · Aug 3, 2007

If you are talking to your mother and addressing her by "mom", it would be capitalized. So mom in your sentence would be capitalized.

If you are talking about "mom" as the position, it's not capitalized. So you would do this:

"All right, Mom. You're the mother. What about Daddy? He's not going to start acting like a dad, is he?"

All names, nick or otherwise, are capitalized.

Pamster · Aug 3, 2007

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the fast replies, I was wondering if I had the rule wrong and I think I did have a couple Mom's capped that shouldn't have been. I really love this place, you all are awesome!

Maryn · Aug 3, 2007

Teeny thing, Pamster, but you also need a comma in your example. Yes-comma-Mom, because it's a direct address, and those are separated by commas whether they're nicknames, proper names, titles, collective or group names, insult-names, or swear words used as names.

Maryn, who's been called all of those at one time or another

maestrowork · Aug 3, 2007

My mom is a lovely woman; but Mom always says, "Eat your vegetables."

One is a general word to replace "mother" and the other is a specific "name." Meaning, it's just not any mom, but MY mom.

Lance_in_Shanghai · Aug 23, 2007

Don't thank everyone, Pamster. Those who suggested you consider whether it is a specific person had nothing to help you. What mom is not a specific person? Dawno gave the best advice. You should also watch out for beginning sentences with words that should act to combine phrases such as "so" when the meaning is "which is the reason". It is poor structure seen several times in this thread.

Correct: "I am tall so I am good at basketball."
Incorrect: "I am tall. So I am good at basketball."

Sean D. Schaffer · Aug 25, 2007

Lance_in_Shanghai said:
Don't thank everyone, Pamster. Those who suggested you consider whether it is a specific person had nothing to help you. What mom is not a specific person? Dawno gave the best advice. You should also watch out for beginning sentences with words that should act to combine phrases such as "so" when the meaning is "which is the reason". It is poor structure seen several times in this thread.

Correct: "I am tall so I am good at basketball."
Incorrect: "I am tall. So I am good at basketball."

My Emphasis.

So what? That wasn't the OP's question.

If you're bothered by this lack of good structure, why not start a separate thread dealing with it?

---

Back to the original topic, I tend to agree with most everyone else here. If your use of the word 'mom' or 'mother' is a method of naming the individual (i.e. 'Hi Mom!') then it should be capitalized. On the other hand, if the word refers to a person in an indirect manner, the word needs to be left lower-case. (An example here would be 'My mother is a nice lady'.)

Duncan J Macdonald · Aug 25, 2007

Lance_in_Shanghai said:
Don't thank everyone, Pamster. Those who suggested you consider whether it is a specific person had nothing to help you. What mom is not a specific person?

When they are considerd as a class, as you did in your last sentence above -- unless you meant to write "What Mom is not a specific person?"

Lance_in_Shanghai said:
You should also watch out for beginning sentences with words that should act to combine phrases such as "so" when the meaning is "which is the reason". It is poor structure seen several times in this thread.

[snark] So? [\snark]

Lance_in_Shanghai said:
Correct: "I am tall so I am good at basketball."
Incorrect: "I am tall. So I am good at basketball."

More correct: "I am tall, so I am good at basketball."

Capitalization of Mother and Mom

Pamster

Counting Stars

Jersey Chick

Up all night to get Loki

Dawno

Shiny!

Roger J Carlson

Moderator In Name Only

Pamster

Counting Stars

Maryn

I Tried

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Lance_in_Shanghai

Sean D. Schaffer

Duncan J Macdonald

Plotting! Not Plodding!