Happy birthday !
The thread is 10 years old.

If somebody were to call me pépère he would hear 'sure, young boy' just before his spine breaks.

If somebody were to call me pépère he would hear 'sure, young boy' just before his spine breaks.>>

Should we ever meet IRL, WoinP, I'll be sure to remember that!

"Yes, I grew up in a French/Canadian family. My grandparents only spoke french. We called them Mémère and Pépère. It's a term of endearment we little people call out grandparents."

Same here but even more so my wife's family.

You don't want to mess with WoinParis, annhig. He's a big guy.

Around here, kids call their grandmothers Mami. Not sure about grandfathers, who usually die long before the grandmothers do :(

Unfortunately, WoinParis has not told us what he would like to be called if he lives to be a grandfather. I will continue to call him by his first name. :-)

"Mamie" and "Papi" (for the grand-father) are by far the most common nicknames nowadays in France. Of course, there is no rule about that, but "mémé" sounds older (I called my grand mother "mémé" 20 years ago) and "mémère" even older (in my imagination "mémé and "mémère" are now pejorative), but it probably depends on areas in France.

Two commercial footnotes:

In Dutch, "oma" is also used in "omafiets" - a grandma bike, for a basic simple step-through model with the enclosed chain.

And in the UK, some people use "Nana" as a generic, as in this advert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z_thlxUSdk

(I don't have any data on how many grandmothers had to replace the TVs they'd chucked out of the window after watching that ad).

It will never be 'nana' in France, because that is slang for chick or bird (in the 'cute young female human' sense) and also it is the brand name of a sanitary napkin.

Waht about Nana Mouskouri ?
My parents were called Nannie and Daddy as grand-parents.
My own grandfather was 'Bon-Papa' shortened in 'Bonpa'
Grand-Papa and Grand-Maman are also quite frequent.

Nana Mouskouri is Greek, not French. That was a nickname for her full Greek name, Ioanna, so I suppose didn't have the same connotations as in French (it was a long time ago, anyway). She doesn't even live in France any more.

"It will never be 'nana' in France, because that is slang for chick or bird (in the 'cute young female human' sense)"


Talk about your faux amis!