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Everyday words not so innocent to the younger generation!

(50 Posts)
ixion Sat 02-Jan-21 19:44:57

My cupboard under the stairs, with all the amassed bits and bobs, has always been called the gloryhole.
My children tell me quite firmly that this is not a word to be used in common conversation.....
AIBU and does anyone have a similar 'foot in mouth' word I should be avoiding?

SuzannahM Sat 02-Jan-21 19:49:20

Blimey, I had to look that up - hope now I won't be inundated with unwanted ads shock

SuzannahM Sat 02-Jan-21 19:53:39

I just told my OH about my internet search and he laughed. Apparently he once searched for water sport holidays when we used to scuba dive and got some very unexpected results.

Nortsat Sat 02-Jan-21 19:53:59

We have a DLR Station near us called Royal Albert and someone had to explain to me why it wasn’t called Prince Albert. She explained that it’s a piercing but advised me not to google it. Of course I did ... then wished I hadn’t.

EllanVannin Sat 02-Jan-21 20:08:46

I think it's sad that some of our " old " language has been confined to some sort of obscene meaning. Sad society.

LauraNorder Sat 02-Jan-21 20:19:15

With you on that EV.

BlueSky Sat 02-Jan-21 20:28:20

Agree Ellan.

janeainsworth Sat 02-Jan-21 20:29:06

I was naive enough to use the word ‘slut ’ (as in, someone whose house is less than clean) in front of DS and DDiL.
Cue a mixture of face palms, sniggers, shock and outrage firstly that I should use the word and secondly that I was apparently unaware that its meaning had significantly changed.
blush

ixion Sat 02-Jan-21 20:36:05

Similar 'young people' reaction when I said I had never heard of b*ll*nd?‍♀️

Elegran Sat 02-Jan-21 20:38:26

EllenVannin Words go in both directions - from respectable to rude and rude to respectable. Google "Victorian euphemisms for prostitutes" to see lots of words that have changed their meanings.

Urmstongran Sat 02-Jan-21 20:41:29

True. Remember when we used to say we’d had such a gay time?

welbeck Sat 02-Jan-21 20:41:52

reminds me of when i advised a slightly older person that t*at was a very rude word, akin to the c-word.
she didn't believe me, so rang her son for support. he was shocked to her her voice it, and told her firmly it was indeed very very rude.

Elegran Sat 02-Jan-21 20:44:51

A gay was one of the euphemisms, UG Full circle from sex to respectable to sex again.

Elegran Sat 02-Jan-21 20:46:24

I used that on GN, Welbeck, under the impression that it meant a variety of twit. I got lots of shocked replies.

ixion Sat 02-Jan-21 20:46:29

That reminds me, my poor mother had to be taken aside and gently told that no, when exercising/training her dogs, my cousin was NOT dogging

baubles Sat 02-Jan-21 20:48:48

My DD refused to believe that when I was young the word gay had a very different meaning. smile

mokryna Sat 02-Jan-21 20:56:03

Oh dear janeainsworth I used that same word last week, no wonder DD and BF were shocked. I am never up to date with the new meanings, my excuse is I’m not living in the UK.

janeainsworth Sat 02-Jan-21 20:57:02

Mokryna the Urban Dictionary is your friend grin

Maggiemaybe Sat 02-Jan-21 21:22:29

Apparently minx is not a word that should be used lightly these days. It's moved on from a girl who's a bit cheeky or bold to something more sexual. Or so a thread on MN taught me.

Jane10 Sat 02-Jan-21 22:11:36

I remember my Grandmother feeling very up to date when she told us that her venetian blinds were fucked. We were appalled and explained to her that the boy on the bus who told her that it was a word for broken wasn't necessarily being strictly accurate. Poor Granny!

Grammaretto Sat 02-Jan-21 22:12:00

But Minnie the Minx was my heroine in the Beano! beano probably means something different now

Maggiemaybe Sat 02-Jan-21 22:37:42

That’s a thought, Grammaretto, and I think she’s still in the Beano. shock

Obviously the Mumsnetters falling out with their in-laws over the use of the m word didn’t subscribe. grin

BrightandBreezy Sat 02-Jan-21 23:12:09

When dmil's house possessions were being sorted after she went into a home dh and siblings were invited to take for themselves anything of sentimental value.

It caused some merriment amongst the younger members of the family when dh asked if any of the others would mind if he took his grandad's garden hoe home with him. He always did his mother's garden for her and, as he pointed out, he had used the hoe in the garden many times over several years.shock

Grandma11 Sat 02-Jan-21 23:22:24

I have come across a fair few ladies who were born in the 1950s and 60s who were given the very fashionable at the time name Gay, or Gaynor! Not many still use it and most have reverted to using their middle name to be known by, but I did have a friend at our Local Brownie pack when I was ten years old, by the name of Gay White! When I came across her later in life she revered to herself as Faye, and was working as a WPC.

mokryna Sat 02-Jan-21 23:37:44

janeainsworth

Mokryna the Urban Dictionary is your friend grin

I quite agree if you have an idea the word could have a new meaning but when you are innocent ...