mom-and-pop
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.68 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Small and unsophisticated, typically because operated by a couple or a family.
Canadian usage; American usage
noun
Alternative form of mom and pop (“a mom-and-pop operation”).
adj
Alternative letter-case form of mom-and-pop.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of mom and pop.
Example Sentences
- "Mom-and-pop diners are disappearing from American streets and being replaced by bland corporate giants."
- "That’s how we discovered New England: back roads, Mom-and-Pop diners, historic markers and all."
- "At first glance, Lincoln seemed caught in a time warp—a place of 1930s tourist cabins and Mom-and-Pop diners where one could get honest-to-goodness milk shakes, made in a blender with real ice cream."
- "But put a Target, JC Penney or Wal-Mart in an existing downtown, and you draw even more traffic to the merchants occupying the adjacent streets. Then, instead of killing Mom-and-Pop stores, they’d present the Mom and Pops with enlarged opportunities for profit."
- "The new retail marketing companies, being highly profit-oriented, will be interested in the “cream” of the marketplace. The “cream” will not be the Mom-and-Pops and corner service stations of rural Chesterfield County."
- "Eventually, it actually happened as the neighborhood improved, rents got jacked-up and the Mom-and-Pops and importer/exporters gave way to restaurants, bars and coffee shops. The “hood” had now become hip."