Mum

I have a Scottish friend who wrote a story about a boy and his mum. What’s a “mum”? my kids ask, then, Why does he say “mom” that way?

“Mum” is not American English. It does not mean “mom” and it has nothing to do with keeping silent. (In America, very little has to do with keeping silent.) However, most grown Americans do recognize “keeping mum” as an idiom of the British Isles. We just have no idea how to practice it.

Director Niall Johnson has made a film of that title, KEEPING MUM, to demonstrate the expression to those on the West Atlantic. Despite the cast of Her Majesty’s Royal Regulars, this is not a stiff British flick. Any hint at Jane Austen is annihilated by the role of Patrick Swayze as the sleazy golf professional. “I see your wife,” he tells the vicar and adds a glance loaded with double meaning.

Yes, this movie’s primary concern is the vicar’s wife, who is nearly about to have an affair with Patrick Sleazy. In-between her nearly about-to’s, Mrs. Vicar hires a housekeeper, whom she subsequently learns offed people, before multiple decades in an institution for the criminally insane. Question is, is Mrs. Housekeeper at it again?

There is another twist, but I’m not going to spoil it. That’s what the movie’s all about, after all: keeping mum. My public library was forethoughted enough to have this film on the shelf. Perhaps your local institution has been so forethoughted as well in its collection. Check it out.