A young teen, denied permission by mother to go on a date, thinks it's unfair and wants to debate.
In the subsequent conversation, how do you spell it when wishing to draw out the word "Mom" in a whining manner?
Mommmmm?
Moooomm?
Ma-ahm?
Something else?
I can only ever recall seeing it with many "o"'s and a single "m" on each end - "mooooom"
To be even clearer, (more clear?) You can always do this.
"Mooom," she whined.
However, I think is best to put one or two breaks in the middle so it has that multiple syllable feel to it.
Mo-oo-om (or similar) works for me.
Mommmmm?
Moooomm?
I wouldn't use either. But if I had to choose one of the above, I would use Mommmmm.
Moooomm makes me think of a cow.
My preference would be along the line of Maaaaw.
I would use the hyphens, especially since this is dialogue.
That said, it's worth mentioning that I'm a purist when it comes to anything inside of quotes. By that I mean that you are trying to replicate, as closely as possible, the actual sounds being made. Dialogue should not include any abbreviations or contractions except where that form is what is being said.
So, for example, Mr. Smith should be written as "Mister Smith" in dialogue. Even though Mr. is a standard abbreviation that almost any English speaker would know, in dialogue it is important to indicate the sounds, not the writing conventions.
So from that point of view I think that "Mo-om" or "Mo-o-om" does a better job of indicating actual sound than "Mooom" does, which could also be read as rhyming with "zoom".
for example, Mr. Smith should be written as "Mister Smith" in dialogue. Even though Mr. is a standard abbreviation
Not according to what I found. "Mr.", "Dr.", "Lt.", etc. are abbreviated when followed by a name. I even browsed some classic novels to verify it.
Now if the speaker is saying, "Hey, mister," it is spelled out.
I researched a different term. What I learned is there are many sources that provide their opinions. When I looked closer, I found that many of these sources were bloggers. The only credentials some of those bloggers had were people liked to read what they wrote for they sounded as if they knew what they were talking about.
The rule I follow is, type the sound you hear when the word is spoken.
Try to sound out Mr. You can't because it is not a word. It represents a word that can be pronounced, so that word should be used in dialogue, not its abbreviation.
Try to sound out Mr. You can't because it is not a word. It represents a word that can be pronounced, so that word should be used in dialogue, not its abbreviation.
Hmm, what would you use in dialogue for Mrs.?
Mrs. is the abbreviation of Mistress, but according to Wiktionary Mistress is
(archaic) Used as the title of a married woman before her name. Now used only in the abbreviated form Mrs.
HM.
Hmm, what would you use in dialogue for Mrs.?
I would have said Missus, but what I find on-line as correct pronunciation would be miss-iz
https://www.scribbr.com/effective-communication/ms-mrs-miss/
I've been discussing this just recently. The Chicago Manual of Style isn't definitive, but leans towards abbreviations:
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Quotations/faq0071.html
Some other sources urge abbreviation for everything but Doctor. Why? I'm not sure.
Probably the most important thing is to set a style and stick to it. I'm almost consistent about that :)
