Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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?
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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'.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
Like ham over here in Californaiyay.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
I would say like ham....but I am in the midwest, so....
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
Ham on the US east coast/south.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
It is ham.
hhh AAAAAmmm.
muh aaaaaammm.
puh aaaaalm
Originally Posted by TosaInu
Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
You mean you don't say it like "up yours, lady!" ?
Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
Thats an odd username change.
Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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, then I would address her as ma'am, which rhymes with palm.So how does one pronounce ma'am? Like ham or like palm?
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A lot of it is to do with where you're from and so depends on your accent.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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'.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
No it's pronounced like maulk.
Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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.
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
Interesting, so when addressing the Queen specifically, it rhymes with "palm?" Or "mom?"
Here's a link with audio clips, male Canadian and male American.
Be intent on loyalty
While others aspire to perform meritorious services
Concentrate on purity of intent
While those around you are beset by egoism
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Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
Protocol advises that one starts any conversation by addressing the Queen as "Your Majesty" and each subsequent time with Ma'am. Pronounced "maarm".
"If there is a sin against life, it consists not so much in despairing as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this one."
Albert Camus "Noces"
Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
Over in Tennessee Appalachia, protocol advises that one starts a conversation by pronouncing Ma'am like so.
Re: Ma'am as in ham or palm?
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, the ultimate etiquette guide.
Last edited by Ethelred Unread; 02-28-2011 at 22:19.
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