# Don't call your mother "she"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-your-mother-she/505057>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 2, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-your-mother-she/505057 "2009-08-02T14:18:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 10

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**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-your-mother-she/505057/181 "2021-05-20T13:47:29Z")

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I was reacting to **Ron** , who said that he would have gotten in trouble for calling his mother “she” even after her identity had been established in the conversation. The only alternative would be to use “Mom” or “mother” every single time.

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**Author:** ![Ron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Ron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ron)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-your-mother-she/505057/182 "2021-05-20T14:45:58Z")

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Yes, now your understanding it. But I believe before I said even half of that he would interrupt me and use one of his other saying, he’d yell “Children are to be seen NOT heard!”.  
Thank God he dead now.

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**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-your-mother-she/505057/183 "2021-05-20T15:14:04Z")

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Oh, I remember that cat’s mother phrase! Never did understand it.

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**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-your-mother-she/505057/184 "2021-05-20T22:51:43Z")

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I first came across it at school (in Ireland in the 1970s). A teacher took offence at being referred to as “she”, and shouted “Who’s SHE? The cat’s mother?”

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