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View Full Version : Ma'am as in ham or palm?


rajpoot
02-25-2011, 20:10
Just watched The King's Speech.
Now ordinarily I'm quite confident of how I pronounce words, and luckily my accent is more neutral than most people here.....
So how does one pronounce ma'am? Like ham or like palm?
The Internet offers contradicting opinions...thus I post here....
A Nerd
02-25-2011, 20:17
I pronounce it sounding like ham. I personally have never heard it sounding like palm, but perhaps elsewhere it might. I would prefer to say 'miss' though, whether she married or not.
Rhyfelwyr
02-25-2011, 20:17
I say ham and palm the same way... although that may be due to the fact that Scottish people have quite a harsh sounding 'a'.
Togakure
02-25-2011, 20:19
Like ham over here in Californaiyay.
Motep
02-26-2011, 00:59
I would say like ham....but I am in the midwest, so....
drone
02-26-2011, 02:06
Ham on the US east coast/south.
pevergreen
02-26-2011, 03:32
It is ham.

hhh AAAAAmmm.

muh aaaaaammm.

puh aaaaalm
Samurai Waki
02-26-2011, 08:55
You mean you don't say it like "up yours, lady!" ?
pevergreen
02-26-2011, 09:28
Thats an odd username change.
InsaneApache
02-26-2011, 10:33
So how does one pronounce ma'am? Like ham or like palm?
The Internet offers contradicting opinions...thus I post here....

I can't speak for any others but as a northern Englishman when I address my mother I call her mam, which rhymes with ham. However were I ever to encounter Brenda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_and_organisations_frequently_parodied_by_Private_Eye), then I would address her as ma'am, which rhymes with palm.

A lot of it is to do with where you're from and so depends on your accent. :balloon2:
rajpoot
02-26-2011, 12:20
I've been pronouncing it as 'ham'...but, I've actually heard some English actors pronounce it differently. And it sounds...sort of..cooler...as 'palm'.
Louis VI the Fat
02-26-2011, 12:26
Ma'am as in


https://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3166/spamcansmall.jpg
Prussian to the Iron
02-26-2011, 14:14
yes. Ma'am as in ham/spam.

the only time I've heard it as "palm" is in the new Halo. and I was wondering if he just said what I thought he said.
a completely inoffensive name
02-26-2011, 15:37
No it's pronounced like maulk.
Banquo's Ghost
02-26-2011, 16:27
If one is addressing Her Majesty, then one uses the long vowel sound. Since it is her English, there is no alternative.

However, what the pronunciation might be in American, I have no idea, as I do not speak the language.

:wink:
Togakure
02-27-2011, 03:14
If one is addressing Her Majesty, then one uses the long vowel sound. Since it is her English, there is no alternative. ...
Interesting, so when addressing the Queen specifically, it rhymes with "palm?" Or "mom?"

Here (http://www.forvo.com/word/ma%27am/)'s a link with audio clips, male Canadian and male American.
Banquo's Ghost
02-27-2011, 10:42
Interesting, so when addressing the Queen specifically, it rhymes with "palm?" Or "mom?"

Protocol advises that one starts any conversation by addressing the Queen as "Your Majesty" and each subsequent time with Ma'am. Pronounced "maarm".
Louis VI the Fat
02-27-2011, 11:12
Over in Tennessee Appalachia, protocol advises that one starts a conversation by pronouncing Ma'am like so (http://www.goats4h.com/heat.au).
Ethelred Unread
02-28-2011, 22:17
Protocol advises that one starts any conversation by addressing the Queen as "Your Majesty" and each subsequent time with Ma'am. Pronounced "maarm".

Wrong way round - it's specifically Ma'am as in Ham, not the long vowel. As any phule no, Ma'am is a contraction of Madam, hence "ham".

Here's a link from Debretts (http://www.debretts.co.uk/forms-of-address/the-royal-family/communicating-with-the-queen/addressing-the-queen.aspx), the ultimate etiquette guide.:book: