Am I a laughing stock?

Well, it's obviously time to change the name to "Jackson MANSIONS".
And sod 'em.

But OP hasn't said anything to suggest that she's expecting people to laugh or react or think it's brilliant every time. I got the impression she hadn't even been thinking much about it by this point. It's just her jokey nickname for her house and what she's got used to calling it.

People who say this is a bit Hyacinth Bouquet are wrong. Her pretensions are unironic. She doesn't know she's making a joke. The OP does.

People who say this is a bit Alan Partridge or David Brent are right. They make jokes like this on purpose. We laugh at them because their humour is forced and cliched and not funny, though think it is. We are laughing at their lack of self-awareness.

It's an ironic posh name for a normal house. Like naming a massive dog Titch. And also just affectionate, like parents sometimes addressing their daughter as "princess". Both ironic grandness, and genuine affection because the home is as precious as if it were a palace.

It's absolutely ridiculous for people to say it's so unbearable they couldn't take any more, and I do not believe anyone who claims to think she's actually genuinely boasting about the size and grandeur of her three storey townhouse.

Thank you, it reminds me of a family friend who lived in’rose cottage’. A normal house on a main road , small garden and in a noisy town. It was in way a cottage but they’d put that on Christmas cards and refer to the cottage.

It's the comedy of bathos. She doesn't really live in a grand house, so referring to her ordinary house in the language of grand houses is... not funny, exactly, but let's call it "gently amusing".

Oh God, you're exactly right. She sounds like an ancient radio DJ from twenty/ thirty years ago.

It's like Smashie and Nicey's funny farmstead.

Can you explain why it’s funny/funny to others? I’m not being rude I don’t quite get it!

Awful.

Exactly this.

What started as a small joke has become your own personal cliche.

It's lost whatever humour it had and gained a layer of cringe because you haven't realised.

You're not Bruce Forsyth. You don't need a catchphrase.

💯 agree.
Social fun homes are hard to find these days, people are very isolated.

Love it! My sister's kids are grown up, but she has a demanding cat. I'll suggest I get her one too.

This is lovely, I second what someone unthread said, that the world would be so boring without people like you! I enjoy making conversations interesting too and will often give people nicknames when I say good morning, think along the lines of Charlie warlie,

Laughing at this thread as my boyfriend and I refer to our house as Tearwood Towers… (Tearwood is our street name). Wonder if all my friends and family are laughing at us behind our back’s too! 🤣

They're being mean! Clearly it was intended as a joke, a bit like faulty towers. It's a pet name for your house. If people don't get your humour or have sufficient time to criticise something so small and inconsequential, I would distance myself from them.

I think this is different.

This is a bit like Jane's Kitchen on a previous post (where someone has a sign in the kitchen although she's a terrible cook in case you didn't see it).

Calling a tiny flat Surname Towers; a wall you're not happy with The Great Wall of X Street; putting up a Jane's Kitchen sign in your kitchen when your name is Jane and you can't cook is different. It's slightly self deprecating.

The joke is that a tiny flat isn't a Towers; the wall you hate isnt a world famous landmark although it feels like it should be given its prominence in your lives; it isn't Jane's Kitchen because Jane can't cook and she's rarely in it.

The people in the OP's life have become irritated by the nickname she has given her own home not because they don't have a sense of humour or because the OP thinks her house is better than anyone else's but because the joke has worn a bit thin. It's just become a bit over egged.

I want to add that I like it, Op and might start calling my house surname mansion.

please don’t feel bad. We only have this one life. It passes relatively quickly and this brings you joy. Leave the miserable to wallow in their own misery. Who cares if they are laughing at you? At least those sad gits are laughing for a change. Keep being you.

I wouldn’t even change it to another name because what will come next is more snide comments behind op’s back like “Oh she’s now calling it Jackson Mansions/estate/grounds as if listening to Towers for years wasn’t bad enough”

Op if I was you I’d read the room and realise people have had enough of it now and just start to phase it out. It’s had its day and it’s worn thin.

Perfect answer - case closed.

It's cringey because you've over used it and obviously think it's a lot more 'wacky' than it is.

I mean people say it occasionally in a self deprocative way, because their house obviously isn't a 'tower '.

It's not the crime of the century though, just phase it out or own it and keep changing it ..'mansions', 'estate' , 'grounds' etc

Also, the point is, it’s a running joke, they last forever! 😂

Maybe make sure you pull a slightly humorous face, raised eyebrow or something, when you name it in future to help them get the joke? 🤷‍♀️

This.

You’re fine, OP!

It does sound like maybe you took it too far. Given the nastiness from your sister it might have been perceived as attempted grandiose and less of a joke… particularly if it’s gone on for some time.

I would say that it doesn’t reflect well on them the way they handled it… the word bitchy springs to mind. But it’s clear that at least a few people in your circle have not been receptive to the ‘joke’ so probably best to drop it.

I think it's harmless.

I do think you need to be aware about how often you refer to your home as '........ Towers'
It's the frequency and the repitition that may grate on people. Putting it in a Christmas card is also slightly OTT.

Yes, I suspect there could have been a few smirks by friends and family over the years but really, if this is the worst of your foibles, then you are a decent human being.

I'd let their meanness go but I'd definitely stop saying it! It'll all blow over when they find something/someone else to pick at.