Japanese Memaws

Although I spent the last two years in South Carolina, I grew up in Oklahoma and consider it my homestate. A surprising number of my Japanese students have heard of Oklahoma. Well, at least I think they have. When I ask students if they've heard of it, many smile and nod, but it's hard to tell if they understand what I'm asking or if they're just pretending to. I have my suspicions. In any case, I've been making Oklahoma sound like it has nothing more than cowboys, country music and rodeos, which was my pet peeve when I lived there, but for some reason I always find myself saying yee-haw and making lasso movements when I talk about the state. I just can't help myself.

Yesterday I taught a lesson about family members, and in it we discussed different names for grandmothers. For example, granny, nana, grandma, etc. I went a step further and taught them the word mewaw, which is quite hilarious in my opinion. My third cousins call their grandma memaw and I've heard one or two other Oklahomans do the same, but obviously my students had never heard of it. I told them it's a country thing, and as far as they know everyone in Oklahoma uses the word memaw and listens to country music. Good times. I've also manged to incorporate werewolves, ghosts and other paranormal things into my lessons (it's easier than you think), so who knows what other gems I'll be able to teach the Japanese. If just one Japanese student calls his or her grandmother memaw or is able to speak freely about werewolves and haunted places, then all the hours of lessons are worth it! :-)

Has anyone else heard or used the word memaw?