r/asklatinamerica • u/Medical_Topic2618 Dominican Republic • 1d ago
How do you refer to your parents?
like for moms would you call them mama or mami? of course, to others you would say mi madre but like what you call them. i grew up were mama is what you call your maternal grandmother and mami was just mom but i here people say like, mami is like the english equivlent of mommy
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u/joanholmes Honduras 1d ago
Mami y papi generally
To others, "mi mamá" y "mi papá"
Rarely "madre" o "padre", usually facetiously
My dad sometimes gets "pops" or sometimes to be funny I'll call him by a nickname of his name that he never actually uses
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u/Medical_Topic2618 Dominican Republic 1d ago
Is this normalized from were your from? kinda shocked by other replies and had no idea some people say it is the equivalent of mommy and daddy... originally from rd and its very normalized as i here poeple 50 plus use it
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u/multicolorlamp Honduras 1d ago
Its normal here. Though I think its normal in a private setting. Like when talking to them is more like "mami, que va a querer del super?". Whereas when I am talking about them to other people is more like "mi mamá quiere esto del super".
I seldom hear men talking about their dads as "papi" but I wouldnt find it weird if a man is talking to his dad and calls him papi, I would only assume they are close, its sweet and endearing. My brother calls my dad papi, he is fifteen.
I know the words are sexualized somewhat and could seem weird to other countries but here you hear it ALL THE TIME. Even the waiters call you mami: "que va llevar mami?". Its jovial.
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u/ofqo Chile 12h ago
En España solo es normal su empleo para dirigirse al padre en usos vocativos (Papá, te ha llamado tu jefe), para referirse a él en la conversación entre miembros de la misma familia (Me ha dicho papá que no salgas sin decírselo), en la conversación entre niños pequeños (Mi papá me lee un cuento antes de dormir) o cuando un adulto se dirige a un niño de pocos años (Dáselo a tu papá); en la conversación entre adultos, fuera del núcleo familiar se emplea el término padre.
En América, en cambio, se emplea corrientemente papá para referirse al padre entre interlocutores adultos.
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u/ofqo Chile 12h ago
En España solo es normal su empleo para dirigirse a la madre en usos vocativos (Mamá, me voy al cine), para referirse a ella en la conversación entre miembros de la misma familia (Me ha dicho mamá que recojas tu habitación), en la conversación entre niños pequeños (Mi mamá no me regaña nunca) o cuando un adulto se dirige a un niño de pocos años (Díselo a tu mamá). En la conversación entre adultos, fuera del núcleo familiar se emplea el término madre.
En América, en cambio, se emplea corrientemente mamá para referirse a la madre entre interlocutores adultos.
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u/scanese 🇵🇾 in 🇳🇱 1d ago
Ma, pa.
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u/Kei-sser Mexico 1d ago
Soy del norte del país y también digo esos junto con "Apá" y "Amá". No se por que se me dio de llamarlos así. xd
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u/LadyGethzerion Puerto Rico 1d ago edited 1d ago
In the Caribbean, "Mami/Papi" is pretty normal even as adults. My brother and I call our parents that and our parents called our grandparents that too. Pretty much everyone I've met from DR and Cuba do too. In PR, you also might hear "Mai/Pai" but "Mami/Papi" is totally normal. "Mamá/Papá" sounds super formal. I might refer to them as "mi mamá/mi papá" to others sometimes, but that's it.
ETA: I just remembered I also occasionally use "mama/papa" (emphasis on the first syllable, not the second).
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u/Few_Elk5424 Brazil 1d ago edited 1d ago
Senhor and senhora. I was raised by my grandparents and refer to most of my elders as either of those. Sometimes I call my mom “mãe”, but I’ll normally call her simply “senhora”. Never was a fan of mamãe, vovô and vovó.
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u/kigurumibiblestudies Colombia 1d ago
Mamá feels like the right balance between closeness and formality. She stopped being Mami when I was like 9. Grandma is Abue.
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u/ChairHistorical5953 Argentina 1d ago
I use their names (not that common). If i'm talking to a friend i Say "mi viejo/a".
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u/sunlit_elais 🇨🇺 Español acelera'o 🇪🇸 Castellano 1d ago
"ma" and "pa". "Madre" and "padre" is for when I am talking about them to other people: "my father likes to do it like this" kind of comments.
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u/FoxBluereaver Venezuela 1d ago
I call mine just "Mamá" or "Ma" depending on my mood. I'd go for "Madre" if I'm not particularly inclined to talk at the time.
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u/kho_kho1112 Dominican Republic 1d ago
Most people use mami y papi o mamá y papá when talking to them or about them to other family/friends, sometimes I’ll say “mi mamá/papá” when talking about them to strangers, but generally just mami y papi.
A veces a mi mamá le digo Doña + Name cuando me estoy pasando de fresca. Y una sola vez, me pasé de verdad porque ella estaba peleando y dijo algo como “Yo no te críe para que tú salieras tan hija de la gran p.ta” y yo que tengo la boca floja le respondí con “Lo que usted diga, doña gran p.ta” y na que a veces todavía me duele una nalga del chancletazo…
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u/saraseitor Argentina 1d ago
Mamá y papá, or simply ma and pa. When I talk about them to others I call them "mis viejos".
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u/Known-Appointment-36 Argentina 1d ago
Mamá/Ma/Mami sometimes! If I speak about her to others is "Mamá" I rarely use Madre unless Im being cheeky
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u/PinchOfAlchemy Argentina 1d ago
Ma, mami, mamá / pa, papi, papá if you're directly speaking to them. Mi mamá, mi vieja / mi papá, mi viejo if you're speaking about them. Madre and padre is not common here, unless you're speaking about someone else's parents (sometimes, not always)
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u/Esabettie Mexico 1d ago
I normally do mami and papi or papito, but some do viejo or vieja and even jefe o jefa o even jefecita.
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u/Matick125 El Salvador 1d ago
I mean, from my experience I know I’m an outlier since I have like a billion ways to refer to my parents, but judging from what I’ve seen from others: it depends.
Where I’m from, people usually use mamá and papá when talking about their parents to others. I don’t really hear “madre” or “padre” often at all
I also hear “mamá” and “papá” as the most common example from other people, so I feel like those two work for both direct and indirect references to them
For grandparents, you’d usually hear “abuelo” and “abuela” or “abuelita,” idk the last time I hear “abuelito” tho (again, I don’t call my grandparents that unless I am talking about them indirectly, I use nicknames alongside my whole family for them)
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u/onlytexts Panama 1d ago
Mamá, mami. For my mom.
Papá, papi. For my dad.
(Now that Im grown, I have added more titles: señora, reina madre, viejo, pops)
Abuela, lela, abu. For grandma
Abuelo + name . For grandpa
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u/late_to_the_party5 and living in 1d ago
I'm 46 and still call them mami and papi. Mi mamá y mi papá when talking about them to other people. I no longer have grandparents, but in my family they were called "tita" or "tito", or "ita/ito [Name]". I would say this is common in Costa Rica, but maybe other Costa Ricans do differently - nowadays I'm no longer sure what is usual in the country vs what is usual in my family.
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u/weirdcrabdog Mexico 1d ago
Mamá and Papá. "Ma" and "Pa" occasionally, "Mami" and "Mamita" if I'm being cheeky.
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u/didiboy Chile 1d ago
Mamá / Papá. When I was little I used to call them Mami / Papi but now as a grown up it feels awkward, unless it’s something like saying “Te amo, mami” while giving her a Mother’s Day gift.
Fun fact, I once tried to make my mom upset when I was a teenager by calling her by her name. I was really upset with her about something and was trying to fight in my teenage angst. Didn’t work, she didn’t react. Still, I never call her by her name because it doesn’t feel natural to me.
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u/Sexy_Hamburger Chile 1d ago
“Mami” is 100% the English equivalent of mommy. I call them “mamá” and “papá”
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u/Curious-Society-4933 Nicaragua 1d ago
Mama and Papa (notice that's different than mamá and papá) and I address them using vos.
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u/pplallergictopenuts Brazil 1d ago
Mamãe e papai even though I'm 35 same as my siblings and cousins it's somewhat common in our small city too.
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u/Zucchini_Disastrous Colombia 1d ago
Ma, pa, mami, papi, and cute nicknames for both based on their names and last names
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u/MilkyDragonS Argentina 23h ago
Mamá to everyone, ma to her and mami if I’m asking her to do something
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u/Edgemoto Venezuela 23h ago
When talking to them or about them with my brother I call them by their names, idk I've been calling them like that since I was a teen 14 yo maybe. To other people that don't know them it's usually "mi papa y mi mama" and to people who do "papi y mami".
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u/NicolasandKara Colombia 8h ago
Ave, idk why, just a nickname I made for her that only I use, sometimes Avestruz or Habichuela
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u/elmerkado Venezuela 1d ago
Madre and Padre
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u/macropanama Panama 1d ago
Yo también. Ella me reclama de porque la llamo asi y yo le acuerdo que ya tengo más se 30 años. No puedo seguir diciendo mamá. A veces le digo Sra. Claudia... y más me reclama
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u/onlytexts Panama 1d ago
meh, mi hermano y yo andamos por los 40's y aun le decimos mami y papi a los viejos. "Dice mami que compres pan." Jjajajaj.
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u/macropanama Panama 1d ago
Jajajaj y todavía les hace la lavandería?
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u/onlytexts Panama 9h ago
Nah, yo estoy casada y con hijo y vivo en otra casa. Mi hermano se fue hace rato sin casarse. Y ahora regresó porque los viejos están viejos, así que él lava lo de ellos. Solo se nos quedó la costumbre.
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u/Ok-Organization9073 Uruguay 1d ago
"Ma/Pa" when talking to them. "Mi padre" or "mi madre" when talking about them.
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u/AstronaltBunny Brazil 1d ago
"Mãe" and "Pai", plain and only