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Mom in Noun, Not Verb

Adrienne Scott
Modern Parent
Published in
6 min readFeb 2, 2021

The difference is….

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Stay with me here, I promise there’s a deeper meaning to this

Usually, when someone starts off an essay or writing of any kind, with a definition, I typically respond with a huge resounding sigh, and an eye roll. In almost all cases, I respond with both. But I will break my own unspoken rule, just this once because I think it’s appropriate in this context.

As defined in Merriam-Websters dictionary:

Mom: noun: a female parent

That’s it. It’s also listed as an abbreviation and makes a reference to the more formal term, mother.

Mother: a female parent. A woman in authority. (Think Mother Teresa). An old or elderly woman, (think mother Hubbard, never have I felt such indignation behind the definition of a word). Source, origin. Maternal tenderness or affection. Short for mother….think a vulgar term, that I’m ashamed to say slips out more than it should. Something that is an extreme or ultimate example of its kind especially in terms of scale (the mother of all ocean liners). These are all the ways it’s used as a noun. I was a little surprised to see it being used as an adjective:

Mother: of, relating to, or being a mother. (Perhaps I shouldn’t have been as surprised, in hindsight). Bearing the…

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Modern Parent
Modern Parent

Published in Modern Parent

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Adrienne Scott
Adrienne Scott

Written by Adrienne Scott

I’m a mom who’s children and husband are her muses. I love writing about parenthood, relationships, tech, or whatever else I’m curious about.

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