M&S have named a new range “Mom Jeans” — angering customers with the US phrasing.
Some are threatening to boycott the store, fed up with the creeping Americanisation of our language.
One raged over the £39.50 jeans: “I saw this abomination today. Marks & Spencer, I kid you not — that bastion of Britishness.
“I am most insulted.
“When did we start calling our female parents ‘mom’? It’s ‘mUm’. I’m writing to head office.”
Another considered launching a petition, and fumed: “They won’t get my custom using American terminology.”
According to brand guru Marcel Knobil, 58, the phrase “feels unfaithful to the M&S DNA”.
He said it was a “quintessentially British brand”, adding: “When you walk through a Marks & Spencer, you aren’t going to see a sign saying ‘candy’.”
Made popular across the Atlantic in the 90s, “mom jeans” are high-waisted with a baggy fit.
TV’s Holly Willoughby has appeared in an ad for them, posting online: “You can’t go wrong with a classic mom jean!” It is the latest irritating US phrase to seep into our language, after the likes of “soccer”, “reach out”, “my bad” and, when ordering coffee, “can I get . . . ?”
M&S defended its use, saying it is “a well-known style and well-used term across the fashion industry”.
It added: “We have stuck with it so our customers will recognise it.”
