Little Minx

Changes in the meanings and acceptability of words don't necessarily equate to 'progress'. If a word like 'monkey' is appropriated by racists and used negatively against black people, then it behaves the rest of us to move on and drop that word if it could be misconstrued. Some changes are progress- not using bint or bird to refer to women are two examples, shirt lifter for gay people is another - so it all depends

Also I suppose with monkey there is the whole evolutionary debate and racist views that black people are not as 'evolved' as white people and therefore much closer to monkeys

I agree, rosequartz.

Oh dear i keep calling my lovely little grandson ' my little brown nut' because he has beautiful big brown eyes and goes a lovely brown colour as soon as the sun comes out. I mean as a term of endearment. Will I get arrested or scorned by my family. I think perhaps your son realises he overreacted and you were upset but didn't want to face you. The next time he comes perhaps you could say ' I'm sorry you were upset by my use of the word. It was used with affection by my generation. I was upset by your reaction." But you know what, a face to face conversation is easier. I wouldn't be surprised if you both end up apologising to each other. This would be how it would be played out with my sons. My reaction would have been exactly the same as yours. I hope your feeling better and it's smoothed over soon.

What wrong with saying 'little monkeys'? My parents used to call me a little monkey - along the lines of my being as crafty as a cartload of monkeys (usually when I was trying to pull a fast one!)

<sigh> I give up ...

a 'silly old sod' she thought it meant sod as in clod of earth, not as in sodomite

You're joking! I am standing firm on this one - my parents definitely told me that a 'sod' was a clump of earth and I offer this as exhibit one:

www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/garden-soil-zmaz95djzgoe.aspx#axzz34vcxSnAk

Thistle, I feel sorry for you, how upsetting. I can't understand why your son "got heavy" about it. Clearly you were not using it in the sense that he thought you were - so why didn't he say "Mum! You can't say that nowadays" or something similar. He really should be explaining himself to you, or even apologising. I'd not pussyfoot around him about it. I'd be telling him it upset me and why. Sod all this eggshell treading.

When I first saw the thread title, I thought it was about a girl band, but I see they are,"Little MIX" - they were X Factor winners.

Thistle.

Yes, me too. Just because a word or phrase is appropriated by a group who use it in a negative fashion does it mean the rest of us have to stop using it in the old-fashioned way?

No, I say.

Oh dear, I just read my last post and I am beginning to sound like my dear MIL.

Thank goodness so many of us hadn't realised that 'sod' meant something completely unrelated to clods of earth...or did it ever, really?

I was reliably informed that bloody was NOT a swear word, but if it was spelt 'bluddy' it was swearing.

This was by another 7 year old when we were waiting for the school bus. I have always said it as 'bloody' so I never swear.

We will stand firm rosequartz and Ana - I'm not having some of my favourite words hijacked by small minded people! If we're not careful, before long, we'll all be saying ROFL instead of saying 'I found that really funny' in order 'to keep up with the times'!

LOL HollyDaze.

(I had to look up ROFL)

rosequartz My eldest granddaughter kept saying to me 'YOLO nanny, YOLO'. I didn't want to appear ignorant so I just chuckled but had no idea what she was saying. Eventually, I had to admit defeat after she'd said it, possibly for the thousandth time, and ask what it meant. She grinned (turned out she knew I didn't know as, apparently, I had 'a blank look in my eyes') and said it stood for 'you only live once'. Why don't you just say that, said I. Why should I say all that when I can just say YOLO said she ...

It's a brave new world.

I thought YOLO was the dishy Welshman who presents wildlife programmes. Just shows how my mind works.

Shows how behind the times I am - never heard of YOLO

(Have heard of Iolo, though, rosequartz, and very knowledgeable he is, too!)

I hadn't either Ana - it's these pesky kids!

Whose lolo? I haven't heard of him!

www.iolowilliams.co.uk/about-iolo-2463.html

My son has often used the term 'minx' to describe his daughter, in the same sense as one might use 'a proper little madam' which she can be, though not so little now. I have never considered it a derogatory term, but now that she is approaching her teens she may discover that it has now acquired derogatory connotations, we might have to be careful what we call her. Oh dear!

I can't understand why he got his Y-fronts in such a twist and "left without saying goodbye." If I used a word that had acquired a new meaning, my DDs would laugh and say "Heavens Mum, don't you know what that means now?!" - they would enlighten me and we would all have a bit of a chuckle over it.

I really feel for you thistle it gets harder and harder to just speak naturally without someone accusing us of some sort of 'ism'.

I said to my son recently that someone was a 'tosser' thinking it meant a vagrant/tramp. He said it was a rude word - well I still don't know what it means! Maybe someone will enlighten me.

To toss off means to masturbate. Now why did your son not enlighten you!?

It's another word for 'wanker', NanKate. But we use/d a lot of those words because they'd been casual terms of disapproval or criticism for ages - it's only recently that such scrutiny has been applied and certain words condemned for some reason or another...

Mishap my son would have enlightened me by saying exactly what you wrote in your first sentence.