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AIBU?

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Original poster

Is this a middle class saying?

478 replies

Toblecorleone · 17/12/2023 19:36

Light hearted!

earlier today DH and I took DD to a small petting zoo type place. Not many people there and at one point it was just us and another woman with a girl aged about 3. Woman seemed quite posh, well spoken, both dressed rather posh - the woman was explaining something about guinea pigs to her daughter and then broke off and said “do you want bog?”

The girl said she did so off they went to find the toilets. I was quite suprised by the this phrase from someone who seemed so well spoken but DH says it’s a very middle class saying and he’d have thought “toilet” would have sounded more “common”.

I totally disagree!! Before anyone starts I know it doesn’t matter, I’m just amused by it and interested in how others would perceive this saying?!

YABU - Bog is very middle class
YANBU - bog is common talk

OP posts:
gotomomo · 17/12/2023 23:30

Big is definitely not posh. Loo is the norm

ChampagneLassie · 17/12/2023 23:30

Bathroom surely? I don’t ever say any of the others

ForeverDelayedEpiphany · 17/12/2023 23:31

TisTheDarnSeason · 17/12/2023 21:04

I probably use scent and perfume interchangeably. Can't stretch to looking-glass though, that's just performative nonsense these days.

I remember one of ds's friends at primary school actually getting a smack from his mum for saying 'what?' instead of 'pardon?' in front of me. Poor kid! I was mortified.

To be honest, I find it a bit rude when someone says "What?" when they don't hear someone. I think it's just a mark of respect to ssy "Sorry?" or "Pardon?" I think that "What?" just reminds me a bit of Waynetta Slob shouting it very loudly at her poof husband 😅😬

Finlandia · 17/12/2023 23:33

It was in fact based on a serious academic study.

sunglassesonthetable · 17/12/2023 23:34

I've no idea if you're the only man and this really hasn't anything to do with feminism but I agree with you about the desperation by some posters to tell us they went to private girls' schools, used the word "bog" and swore like troopers.

Nope I didn't write that and I'm not a man.
That's @ProBonoPublico

I did say I went to a boarding school and swore a lot ( still do ) But I'm not 'desperate ' to tell anyone. Seemed like it was context for when I learnt and used the word we're discussing.

Don't worry about it. You sound incredibly prickly.

sunglassesonthetable · 17/12/2023 23:34

@@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle

naughtynine · 17/12/2023 23:35

I’m frankly horrified by the level of petty snobbery and insecurity displayed by so many posters, especially those who are so anxious to sneak in the fact that they went to boarding school, or that they regularly associate with what they would no doubt term the upper classes.

You must be new here then! Mumsnet is obsessed with class.

HappyCamperTent · 17/12/2023 23:36

I say toilet… but then I’m common as shit

HappyCamperTent · 17/12/2023 23:38

I also say what

NewbieTwentyFour · 17/12/2023 23:38

It took me a second to realise what you meant. As a PP said, ‘do you want bog’ suggests it’s the name of a person or toy.
Surely asking her if she needs the loo would be ‘do you want the bog’?

But to answer your question, I’ve never heard anyone of any class use it, so perhaps regional.

IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle · 17/12/2023 23:38

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 17/12/2023 22:56

I have never heard anyone in the aristocracy use the word WC ever. Certainly not the hereds, I suppose some life peers may even use toilet these days.

They mainly say lavatory in public, and loo, or 'going for a wee/pee' in private.

Show quote history

Can you imagine being in a restaurant or a shopping centre, or a theme park etc, etc, etc, and asking a member of staff for directions to the "WC"?

The correct word is the word which best conveys what you're on about to the person you're speaking to.

VolvoFan · 17/12/2023 23:39

Bog? No.

Privy? Yes. Lavatory? Yes.

I don't know what class I am.

CatOnTheLap · 17/12/2023 23:39

Aprilx · 17/12/2023 19:42

Of course bog is not middle class, it is pretty gross. I wouldn’t say toilet either though, I think loo is the polite word.

Edited

No, not the L word, I hate the L word 🤢

HappyCamperTent · 17/12/2023 23:40

My mil says ‘spend a penny’ she’s from yorkshire and working class

notlucreziaborgia · 17/12/2023 23:41

ProBonoPublico · 17/12/2023 23:18

I’m not sure how I ended up here – somehow via Google – but as it appears that I’m the only man contributing to this thread I’m frankly horrified by the level of petty snobbery and insecurity displayed by so many posters, especially those who are so anxious to sneak in the fact that they went to boarding school, or that they regularly associate with what they would no doubt term the upper classes.

The one theme that runs through the dozens of messages I’ve read (which is only about half the thread) is the tragic sense of status anxiety, and the barely subdued desperation about how the various posters see themselves as perceived by others.

It’s as though feminism never happened - the thread might have been written in 1923.

Are only those that went to state school allowed to share their experiences, then?

Unclench.

DrMarshaFieldstone · 17/12/2023 23:41

VolvoFan · 17/12/2023 23:39

Bog? No.

Privy? Yes. Lavatory? Yes.

I don't know what class I am.

Privy? Where are you from? 1935? Grin

HappyCamperTent · 17/12/2023 23:42

Why do people give a shit? Who cares what people think of your just because you said it a different way?

As long as no one is getting hurt then just crack on

IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle · 17/12/2023 23:46

sunglassesonthetable · 17/12/2023 23:34

I've no idea if you're the only man and this really hasn't anything to do with feminism but I agree with you about the desperation by some posters to tell us they went to private girls' schools, used the word "bog" and swore like troopers.

Nope I didn't write that and I'm not a man.
That's @ProBonoPublico

I did say I went to a boarding school and swore a lot ( still do ) But I'm not 'desperate ' to tell anyone. Seemed like it was context for when I learnt and used the word we're discussing.

Don't worry about it. You sound incredibly prickly.

It's a bog standard word used in , or was used in, all schools.

The "swear like troopers" information was utterly irrelevant to what is being discussed but some posters have to tell us that. Goodness knows why.

Shutthefookup · 17/12/2023 23:46

Calliopespa · 17/12/2023 23:22

Disagree. Loo is best.

Show quote history

Children of gentry whilst in the charge of nanny may use the word 'loo' but are taught the correct word in formal company is 'WC'. Those at boarding school mixing with the public may pick up all sorts of names from their peers for a toilet but wouldn't dream of using them at home.

Same as the gentry wouldn't say 'living room' to describe a 'sitting-room' or drawing-room' and a 'patio' would be a 'terrace'.

IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle · 17/12/2023 23:48

Bog, lavatory, loo, toilet - whatever, who cares. Is there anyone who speaks English who doesn't know what's being referred to.

None of them are as awful as "snuggle"

ChristmasCwtch · 17/12/2023 23:50

Never heard anyone say “bog” 😆

Ponoka7 · 17/12/2023 23:52

ForeverDelayedEpiphany · 17/12/2023 23:31

To be honest, I find it a bit rude when someone says "What?" when they don't hear someone. I think it's just a mark of respect to ssy "Sorry?" or "Pardon?" I think that "What?" just reminds me a bit of Waynetta Slob shouting it very loudly at her poof husband 😅😬

Show quote history

I liked having a Queen and used to watch stuff about her. Her and her lady's in waiting etc used to all say 'what', as well as 'could you repeat that?'. They said lavatory/loo and pudding.

Growing up bog was said by people who also said "me ma" and had a bottle of milk (usually steri because they didn't have a fridge) on the table, rather than a jug. We wasn't from a UK background, my Mother spoke what would be considered MC to UC. My father often used navy slang.

sunglassesonthetable · 17/12/2023 23:53

It's a bog standard word used in , or was used in, all schools.

Yea, and? Great. But I only went to the school I went to 🤷‍♀️

And what you consider ' utterly irrelevant ' is not the same as what I consider relevant. Clearly.

And why ? Because it was in response to this

Toilet is bad enough, but at least it’s plain speaking. Bog is absolutely foul - it’s not just common it’s absolute trash, lower than low.

And I said swear like a 'navvy ' for the record.

I feel like I'm having having my homework marked here.

But this is probably where " do bog off, dear " comes into play.

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle

DissidentDaughter · 17/12/2023 23:53

This thread is mental 😂

TheKnittedCharacter · 17/12/2023 23:55

I don’t know I’ve ever heard someone say ‘bog’ in actual real life parlance.

I was brought up to say ‘lavatory’ which is terribly fey. Loo is what we actually say.