Am I a laughing stock?

It’s not terrible but it’s a bit wierd: why are you calling it that - what’s the ‘joke’? Is it a little house? If it’s a huge big house I think people would cringe tbh. If it’s a smaller house I sort of see the joke but to do the same thing over years to the same people is a bit odd. Nothing you can do now so if just stop! x

I wouldn't consider it too deeply - carry on calling it that if you like it!
I would find it slightly cringey if one of my friends kept calling their home Surname Towers, but I wouldn't expect them to care about my opinion.

Maybe your sister is jealous or thinks you're trying to attract attention to yourself or making it all about you.

not saying you are, but it's the sort of petty shit siblings get embroiled in.

and maybe the joke wore a bit thin after the 20th time of saying it!

Ah try not to let it get you down, I'm sure most of us at some point have been on the receiving end of a subtle side-eye/giggle! It doesn't make you a laughing stock. One person's funny is another person's cringe!

Not offensive or cringe at all, more an effort at lighthearted. You host parties and make jokes - you sound like good fun OP so never change.

There is a difference between a lighthearted mickey taking and a sneer. It sounds like your friends may have indulged a bit in the former in an affectionate way but your mum and sister went all out in sneering which isn’t cool.

YABU. Is Surname Palace. Make sure you only have ticketed entry from now on, that'll teach em.

I’d do it even more.

I think people need to get a life. It's obviously a joke and not something to be mean about even if some people feel it's a bit jaded now. Family and friends being mean behind your back would make me wonder if there is some jealousy about something in your life

Haha. We have a 2m retaining wall around two sides of our house. It's a bone of contention for us as we were forced into it by local council. It cost a lot of money, time and looks horrible.

Anyway, we deal with it by calling our house 'the great wall of (name) street'. Those who know get it, others look at us like we're nuts. We don't care. It makes it a bit less unpleasant to think about. We've toyed with putting a house name sign up, but never got around to it. I'd definitely do it if someone was rude. A BIG one.

Don't we all have those jokes/sayings we are driven mad by/wear thin on the 456th telling?

I used to really dislike the dunroamin type names... Obvs originally a bit jokey... But it seemed in the 70s every other house on a bungalow estate would be a variant!

Then there were all those office signs 'you don't have to be mad to work here...'

My all time irritants... The' I'm having a cheeky beer /sausage roll..'

A bloke I worked with... Everythjng was a 'cheeky x..'... He did eventually rein it in when another colleague started saying... 'Ah Dave are you just off for a cheeky wee, before you have your cheeky sandwich at the cheeky pub '😁

Your sister and your mum don't sound very pleasant if they've been being nasty about it in private for so many years.... Rather than enjoying the joke and gently teasing you!

In all honesty, the answer that you got from your friend is quite telling. It does look like you have been an object of ridicule for a while.
I don't think the issue is the name per se. It is the fact that your are now using it as synonym of "our house "in even casual everyday conversation when there is really no room for silly jokes.
You said "why don’t you bring them back to the towers afterward and we can have a little party?" and I can see why that triggered your sister as it does sound corny and naff. Normally, people would say back "to my house". It looks like you are waiting for any occasion to jump in and shoehorn the silly name.
And the fact that your house may be bigger than the average property, but by no means a mansion or stately home, contributes to the perception that you’re trying to sound more important than you really are.
If it was only one person criticising your for this I would give you the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the other person being easily irritable for no reason.
However, the fact everyone, friends and family, has been mocking you behind your back indicates that you have gone too far with this nonsense.

Our surname is Tillman, and we call our place Tillman Towers, it's marked as that on Life360! I don't know if anyone outside of our immediate family (who all live at Tillman Towers!) knows we call it that, but I wouldn't expect to have my DM and DSis rip the piss out of me if they did. It's clearly a joke, as much as we love our home, it's a flat above a shop.

Shite, I have a door plaque and it's not on the door but next to it. I'm doomed. It doesn't contain the words "towers" or "manor" though so maybe I'm ok?

Oh please do this OP, it is a great idea. Get AI to turn a photo of your house into an old fashioned portrait with a really ornate frame. Possibly you and your husband and pets standing out the front in evening gowns or with crowns on of something.

Lean in. If anybody doesn't appreciate your self-irony at that point they are just a hard faced twat.

I’m so sorry, but your family knew for years that you’ve slagged for this and never said anything. Ok. I don’t know what to say. I’d be very upset. Terrible people to not let you know that. Actually, I’d tell them to fuck off and then forgive them. I’m sorry you’re embarrassed.. that’s on them. I hope you get over this for you

Style it out. Rename it Jackson Palace. Don’t worry about it OP, it sounds like a light-hearted joke to me, and if I knew you I’d join in. Years ago I read a poem, which was actually about a messy house but I think it would work here too, and the final lines were: “People who mind seldom matter, and people who matter don’t mind” YANBU

Omg op - im with you. We call out house surname towers as a joke. We even have a sign in the garden that says it. Its a normal house & a joke. Goodness don’t ppl have a sense of humour any more.
We love hosting parties too btw.

Honestly don’t beat yourself up over it. You and your sister are being overly critical of you

Do you write this in all your invites and Xmas and birthday cards to people though? And invite people to come and ‘survey your land’ and refer to it as such whenever you mention going in your garden to friends and family every day, day in, day out for years?

I think there’s a bit of a difference between having cute names for things or saying certain phrases every so often. And then there’s making a point of saying it to everyone all the time and dragging everyone else into it, to the point you’re writing it in Xmas cards and invites for years and years to come.
And I think this is the point that a lot of people are making - it’s ok in small doses but when used too much and over and over again, it starts to wear a bit thin.

Bless you, it’s harmless but I would cringe everytime you made reference to it.

Ok.

Can I ask, first off, why do you call it that?

Are you American? Cos that's sure as heck not how we spell "wanky"

ha! Husband invites me to take a turn round the estate meaning a stroll round the garden with mug of tea.

Or Farty Towels.

Same here, I also talk about surveying my land when I walk round my very modest garden.