Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 09:08:54 -0500

From: "Dale F.Coye" CoyeCFAT[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Soccer-Mom-Soccer-Mother?



Going back to something I brought up a few weeks ago, I can't help thinking

the term should be Soccer Mother. Mom just doesn't sound right to me.

Compare Den mother, Earth mother, Mother hen- can you imagine saying Den

Mom, Earth Mom, Mom hen? Or imagine Saddam Hussein threatening us with the

Mom-of-all-Battles.



The other thing I don't get with this word is, why soccer? Back in the 60s my

mother (not my mom) was driving us around to baseball games and dutifully

watching us as much as any matriarch of the 90s. So why not baseball or

basketball mom? Certainly in NJ soccer is big, but baseball is just as big.



Dale Coye

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Princeton, NJ.