Grandparent and other names for them

[Archived Topic]

My parents and grandparents came from Germany, Prussia and Lithuania. We never referred to them as such when we were growing up.

Instead, when not in their view, they were called "Oma" for grandmother and "Opa" for grandfather. If we spoke to them directly, it was always "Omi" and "Opi", the "i" pronounced as "ee". Example, "Omi, the blanket you're knitting is beautiful," or "Opi, thanks for showing me how to gut a fish." (All things my grandparents did.)

I thought that maybe these were just nicknames, but the different spellings made me wonder, whether direct or indirect. Thank you!

Submitted by Mike Werner (Marlboro - U.S.A.)

[Jonathon Green]

Both forms are noted in the Dict. of American Regional English, which defines 'oma' as grandmother, with the label 'esp. in German settlement areas'; 'opi' and 'opa' are grandfather, and similarly labelled. The latter seems to be an elision of 'grosspapa' (? or 'grosspapi'); presumably oma is 'grossmama', although the DARE does not specify.