Date: Fri, 7 Nov 1997 09:50:38 -0500

From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU

Subject: Re: "git-go and southernisms": mawmaw and pawpaw



On my father's side (in Texas), his maternal grandparents were "mammy" and

"papa," the names by which I knew them. However, I called my paternal

grandparents "mawmaw" and "pawpaw," both of whom are now deceased and

thereby unknown to my children. My children know my parents as "grandma in

Texas" (known to their cousins as "grandma Tootie") and "grandpa in Texas"

(I don't know what the cousins call him). We have no relational term for

my father's current wife. (The seating at the last wedding I attended sure

was interesting.)



The generational shifts have generally been a matter of convenience and

accident for us. Our sense is that the names should be distinct so we know

who(m) we are talking about. However, I believe that my father referred to

his paternal grandfather "pawpaw," although the man died before my father

was born. This pawpaw's wife remarried and was then known as "grandma

Brown"--even to me.



Wayne Glowka

Old Enough to Be Pawpaw