To think " belly" is a horrid, ugly word!

I've just remembered a word that makes me truly cringe as used by Americans, "panties" thank God we don't say that here! it just ridiculously coy. Knickers or pants please, although I realise the latter word is used to describe trousers for men in America.

When I was a kid I in the 1940s/50s I had a tummy, a tummy button and a bottom. No other parts had names. I didn’t even know the word bum. Belly was certainly not used.

My own children were both boys. I tried to use accurate words, but I think willy did feature, introduced by them.

I don't mind it being used in any other context but not referring to the body. I don't know why. I just don't like saying it. Tummy is definitely for children.
Here in N I my mum used the term "doing your numbers" to refer to number 2. Aagh! I can hardly bear to write it.

I've just remembered. My brothers didn't have a willy or a penis. They had a "wee man". Sounds funny now.

Our eldest daughter christened her 'front bottom' her twinkle. No idea where that came from but it has stuck and all the girls in our family do so now.

Boys have a penis.

We have tummy buttons.

Elaine, I dont think anyone is arguing.

This reminds me of my grandmother who asked the butcher for ‘stomach pork’ rather than let the word belly cross her lips!

I suppose I was influenced by her as I remember being a bit shocked at the line in ‘Twas the Night before Christmas’ where Santa had a ‘ little round belly that shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly’!

In the US nobody uses tummy or stomach, belly being perfectly acceptable.

I can’t imagine how anyone can ‘hate’ words like belly and bum they re fairly innocuous
One of my granddaughterS used to called her front bit her ‘Minnie’ When she was about 2 she had some new pants with Disney pictures on the bum one was a picture of Minnie Mouse she was very proud of them and parading round in just her pants to show them off ...her brother two years older called his mum saying ‘Mum mum She’s got her pants on back to front’

It’s a disgusting word!
However a dive gone wrong will always be a belly flop!

I think it is stupid to hate a word like belly, maybe its because people don't want to appear common (as someone said) how on earth can you hate such a word it doesn't make sense.

When I was holding English Conversation classes with a group of Laos would be medical students we went through the body parts using all the names, like belly, stomach, tumbling etc. and why in the english language do we say ear ache or tummy ache when its a pain?

Dreadful word, never used in our house. Absolutely no need to call it a belly button, nothing wrong with tummy button or navel.
In all my time as a nurse I did not feel the need to refer to it as a belly and patients understood.
I do laugh when people think they are being posh when referring to their vagina, not applicable unless you are talking to your gynaecologist ?

What is dreadful about it?

I agree Terribull 'panties' really grates on me as well.

I don't like the word "belly". It just sounds common. I always used "tummy" with my children. However I did allow my daughters to have a name for their genitalia (we called it a "minny"). And my poor Mother was absolutely horrified! ALL the area should only have been called their "bottom" in her mind! Aww, Happy Days!

@Oopsminty I agree. Hubby will use the word "moist" to wind me up, at any given opportunity. With a knowing smirk, as he says it. He is like a little boy sometimes!

Ah, common.
The dreaded state of being.

Countdown's Susie Dent hates the moist word. Just saying....

Nobody likes "moist", do they?
Coupled with "panties" it's all kinds of wrong.

On a thread over on MN a while back, moist was overwhelmingly voted a dislikeable word, closely followed by gusset and as one poster mooted when you put the two together...…...well it's a double horror

Panties is just so twee. Tesco’s consumer panel once offered to send me a 5 pack of knickers to test out and I replied saying my initial feedback would be that they shouldn’t call them panties unless their target market was the under-5s. I never did receive those knickers!

Yep! Panties is the absolute pits, even worse than gusset in my opinion!

I don't like it either, but I can't explain why. I don't think it ever came up when I was a girl.

Having said that, you can have a tummy button, but you can't do a tummy flop or have a tummy laugh!

Thank you @TerriBull, for making me laugh out loud! Moist gusset - horrible!!!

@MissAdventure Yes indeed!

On the subject of "panties", I don't like that word either. However I do accept "panty liners" - the alternative, presumably, would be "gusset liners", which would clearly be totally unacceptable!

Moist panties, gussets and belly!

Ghastly words!