marm

   A spelling which represents a special pronunciation of ‘Madam’, via the colloquial form ‘Ma’am’. The Oxford English Dictionary quotes Lord Lytton, circa 1850: ‘“Well, Marm - ” Mr. Cotton preserved that broad pronunciation of the ellipsis Ma’am, from Madame, which was formerly considered high bred, and is still the court mode.’ This usage was imitated to some extent in the USA, as occasional instances of the ‘marm’ spelling indicate, especially in nineteenth-century sources. The expression ‘schoolmarm’, occasionally ‘school-ma’am’ in early use, appears to indicate that this pronunciation was favoured by certain school-teachers, especially those of a pedantic or priggish nature if one is to judge by the later associations with ‘schoolmarm’.

   ‘Marm’ might still be used in modern times to address a woman who was acting in a schoolmarmish way, attempting to treat other adults like children. In some American dialects, ‘Marm’ has for at least a century represented a pronunciation of ‘Mama’ or ‘Mamma’. This may partly have arisen because children in some middle-class families addressed their mothers as ‘Ma’am’, leading to a certain amount of confusion between the two terms. On the question of addressing the Queen, old-fashioned speakers might still use the pronunciation ‘Marm’ referred to by Lord Lytton, but recent manuals, such as the Longman Guide to English Usage by Sidney Greenbaum and Janet Whitcut, recommend ‘Mam’.