Saw the first part yesterday in the German dub and was puzzled by one thing: Elizabeth was frequently addressed by several members of the court as “mum” (untranslated in the German dub). Is this historically accurate? If yes, I wonder about the familiarity of this address, let alone that Elizabeth was exactly known for not being a mum. Did “mum” carry different connotations in the 16th century? Or was it a transcription error?
I always figured it was an earlier pronunciation of ma’am.
It’s a corruption of “ma’am,” short for madam, which is the correct way to address the Queen. Madam - Wikipedia
While I’m not familiar if it was in current parlance in Elizabeth I’s time, it’s current now, and it may have been a stylistic choice by the filmmakers.
In the police drama Lewis, Inspector Lewis calls his female superintendents (his bosses) “mum.” I was going to say it was just because he speaks with a Geordie accent but now I am wondering if others in the precinct say it too…
But anyway, he means “ma’am.”
Ah, hadn’t thought about that, and I have never heard “ma’am” being pronounced as “mum”. Is this a Britishism?
I believe so. The Duchess of York (the future Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) mentions the pronunciation specifically in The King’s Speech.
She actually says:
Which is consistent with what I’ve been told by those who’ve met HM. They were briefed that it rhymed with ‘jam’.
I seem to recall Nastassia Kinski using that sort of pronunciation (“mum”) in the movie “Tess.”
IIRC, Daniel Craig does this all the frickin’ time to Judi Dench in the Bond films.
So this ambiguity in pronunciation is sometimes played for laughs?
Huh. I must’ve misremembered it.