What do teens call their parents these days?

Among my friends and I, "Mom" and "Dad", some of us as names (so we don't even put the "my" predecessor in conversation with others about them).

Does anyone seriously call their parents parental units? That's weird :(

you could still use any of those terms, but just plain parents/mom/dad is most normal, I think. If your character can pull it off, folks, 'rents, and parental units are fine too, but they're more to make some to make some sort of point. For instance, I've never said 'parental units' casually without thinking about it.

I have never heard anyone refer to their parents are 'rents and not be joking about it. I'm sure that people do, I've just never heard of it.

Some people call their parents but their first names, but mostly its Mom and Dad. And some people make everyone uncomfortable by calling them Mommy and Daddy. When I'm joking around I call my dad Pops, or Soda Pop or if I really want to bug him: Lolly Pop. Some of my friends use terms for parents in a different language even if no one in the house speaks it.

I call my mom "Mom," but I'll occasionally get sarcastic and call her "Mommy," "Mother," etc. If I'm trying to get something, then I'll say Mommy.

To my friends, I refer to her as "my Mom". I can't help you with how to refer to a mother and a father, since I don't see my father, but all my friends say "Dad," "my Dad," "my parents," etc. I've never actually heard anyone refer to them as "folks".

I call my parents Mom and Dad when I'm with my friends. When I'm talking to an employer, I call them my mother and father.

Personally, I've never gotten past calling them Mommy and Daddy. (They get worked up enough as it is about 'growing up', why make it seem faster?)

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Individually, to me and my teen siblings, they're Mom and Dad. Together, they're "my parents," or occasionally "the parents."

Whenever I learn how to say "mom" and "dad" in another language, my parents tend to morph into that ethnicity for awhile--they've been mutti and vati for forever, but more recently they've become amma and pitaa, mama and pedar, haha and chichi, etc. etc. Georgia Nicolson calls her parents "mutti and vati" in that particular series, which either means that I'm not weird or that I'm more weird than I thought I was.

Really, whatever people call their parents has a lot to do with the relationship and their personality. Someone who hates their parents probably won't use "mommy" or "daddykins".

I just call them mom and dad and my parents. -shrug- Other common names here are Mother, Ma, Father, Daddy, and Parentals.

My mom is mommy, ma, mama, or just mom. My dad is either daddy or dad or occassionally Keith if I get really pissed even though it doesn't bother him. *pouts* I either call my friends parents by their name, or just don't use a name if I'm not close to them or if I'm really close with them I call them mom and dad. I have friends who call my parents mom and dad too.

If I'm sad or scared or just plain feeling cuddly? I call my mom 'mommy'. I always call my dad "daddy", though. It might seem a little legally blonde-ish, and that's really how it started, but that's what I do--Mom and Daddy. If I'm cuddly or feeling lovey-dovey, it's "mommy", and if I'm reeeally annoyed with my dad, it's "father" or even "sir". Usually sir, actually.

When I'm just talking about them? Parents. Family. Mom & Dad. Occasionally I've used 'rents while joking. Never parental units though. That's both cheesy and a little too detached for my cuddly self.

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People that say "parental units" probably call Target "Tar-zhay," and star in Toaster Strudel commercials.

I'm a teen.
I use:

mom
dad
parental units (only when talking to friends, though. Just to be sarcastic and/or make a point)

Parental units is the phrase my sibs (all teenagers, between 14 and 18) use when we're miffed at the parentals. Parentals is the word they use when talking more casually. "Mine Mother" and "Mine Father" are what they use when they're outright mocking. To mother, they use Mommy.

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Hm.... well, there's a lot of things we call them. Mostly just my parents, although it's usually my mum and my dad. I personally watch too much BBC and read too many British books, so I say mum, but most people say mom here in America. I agree that 'rents is hardly ever used besides when you're joking. Parental unit is usually used as kind of a jibe. But like, hardly ever used. Me and my friends just say parents. There's really no slang. When talking to them, if you're just normal you say mum (well, alright, most people say mom) or dad and when you're pissed at them you might get sorta formal, like "Yes, mother I understand mother." Which I've been known to do.

Oh, and I refer to my mum's fiance as "The Canadian" or "My mum's Canadian" almost exclusively. It's because when they first started dating that's what I would say to all my friends and it kind of stuck. I mean, his name's Steve, but all my friends know him as the Canadian.

When in doubt, release the plot bunnies on your friends and laugh. And then get back to work.

Well, I say "parents"/"mum and dad", and that's what my friends say too. But we may just be horribly boring people!

Mom, dad, 'rents, parents, occasionally they'll refer to them by their first name depending on the relationship.
Also "Mommy" and "Daddy", also depending on the relationship.
I'm fifteen, I still refer to my parents as the latter. Don't care if I'm too old, really.

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Practically every teenager I know, including myself, uses the term "parental units" on an almost-daily basis. hahaha
We also use 'rents, parentals, mom and dad, pops, mum, poppers, and the usual "parents".
And the guy sitting next to me says he usually calls them "hey you".

And I call it "tar-get", not "tar-jay" ;)

Depends on age and relationship. I call my single mother "mommy" she had me at 17 and we're close, and she likes the "y" because it reminds her of when I was little.

The best way to refer to them would be "parents". I have referred to them as "parentals" in my story sort of in humorous passing. As for 'rents and parental units, that's just insulting. For everyone =/

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I call them "Mum and Dad", or "my parents". Nothing fancy. :) My friends are the same.

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My friend calls them "the parental guidances." She is mostly sarcastic about it though. When I'm talking about my parents with friends, I'll say Mom or Dad. With my sister they are Mommy and Daddy. Otherwise, it's just parents.

edit: sorry, double post

me and my sister and step-sister and step-brother call our parents the parental units.
like as in "Don't bother the parental units, they're napping." etc.
Mainly we do it when we're not in hearing range of them.

I call my parents: Mom and dad. Mommy, mommers, mormy, and any babyish variation. I enjoy teasing my mom by patting her gently on the arm, saying, "It's okay, mormy, it's okay. You're so fragile, but it's okay," and such. xD I also call her ignorant. But only in good fun--I'd never get away with saying stuff like that to her if she was in a serious mood.

When I'm talking to my friends I'll sometimes say 'parental units', but mostly I say, 'my mom', 'my dad', or 'my parents'.

I also call my families their titles in french. Like, "mon mere" (or is it 'ma mere'?) to my mom, "mon pere" to my dad, and even to my brothers I'll say "mon frere." Sometimes I also say it in an English accent--Mon mare and mon pair.

So it really depends on your characters personality and how close she is to her parents. And also her parents' personalities and what type of nonsense they'll allow. I have a couple of friends who's moms would be very weirded out if they (my friends) suddenly started talking in baby voices and teasing them by calling them 'ignorant' and such.

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NaNo 08 (continued into December because I didn't finish it yet):
53,826

I'm surprised to see that anyone still uses rents and parental units... that was popular when I was just out of high school. That was long enough that some of my classmates are rents. ^_^ Even then, though, it was mostly in teasing. Most people I know call their parents: their parents, Mom and Dad.

I call mine Mom/Ma/Momma and Dad/Daddy, collectively, they are usually just my parents or "Mom and Dad". If I'm trying to ask a question or speak to both of them at once, I usually say, "Mom... Dad... " and then whatever I'd like to say. I don't know why Mom is always first...

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When I was little in the Philippines I used to call them "nay" (pronounced 'nai') and "tay" (pronounced 'tai') in short for "nanay" and "tatay" (mother & father in Tagalog). When we moved here in the U.S. I started calling them "mommy" and "daddy" until I reached my teens, which is now just plain "mom and dad".

When I'm conversing in Tagalog I refer to them as "mga magulang" (my parents), but in English, it's always "parents".

I've never heard of people referring to parents as 'rents' or "parental units" at all. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I've never heard people in my area referring their parents with those terms. It was just always "parents" or "mom and dad".

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When I'm being sarcastic or patronising, or when I'm annoyed at them to my friends they are referred to as "Mother" and "Father". Collectively they are "the 'rents", with in my siblings they are "the wrinklies". Otherwise just plain "mum" and "dad".

That's completely me. For some reason, I've never stopped with that, even though it's kind of awkward when friends are around. Mostly it just slips out, and I don't even notice it. They don't look like a "Mom" or a "Dad." Sometimes I'll say Mother and Father if I'm talking in a British accent again. Which happens.

Well, in any case, I just say "my mom" or "my dad" around my friends. "My parents" for the plural. I guess parental slang isn't that big around here.