In Northern Ireland, where I’m from, there’s a weird, disturbing cultural quirk found in a minority of folk which, I’m afraid, gives me the complete and utter heebee‑jeebies. The ick. The creeps. The boak.

The quirk is this: fully sentient adults calling their mother and father "mummy and daddy". Most kids tend to stop saying "mummy and daddy" before they go to high school.

It’s a way‑station on the road to adulthood. Come 11 or so you want to feel more grown‑up, so words like "mummy" and "daddy" get ditched.

In Northern Ireland, it’s pretty much a bumpkin – or culchie – way of talking. You’ll mostly hear rural folk using the expression "mummy and daddy" as adults.

There’s some hayseed types in my extended family and I recall listening to them in barely disguised horror when I was a kid as they sat sipping tea and gobbling cake at get‑togethers while talking about their mummies and daddies – even though they were as old as the hills themselves.

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I put it down to the very traditional, controlled nature of Northern Ireland society. It can be a top‑down culture, with kids expected to obediently follow and accept their parents’ behaviours and beliefs – which is frankly why I hated the place and escaped as soon as I could.

I have relatives in the American deep south, which is another place where adults still use "daddy" in particular.

The cultural crossovers between the north of Ireland and America’s deep south are well‑known.

The place is filled with Ulster‑Scots........

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