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Original poster

To be driven crazy by a few very, very common expressions on Mumsnet?

263 replies

Pineapplesonpizza · 24/07/2026 20:02

Here are two to start with:

"Just that really." after the initial title of the post, sometimes accompanied by shrug emoji.

The word "surely".

Do you have any that irrationally irritate you?

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 25/07/2026 14:50

Pregnant People

aaargghhh

You can have pregnant women . And if they are underage pregnant girls .

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 25/07/2026 14:49

Wow . Just Wow

And the shorthand "veggie" for vegetarian. "Are you a veggie " or worse "are you veggie"
No , I'm a vegetrarian . It's not too many syllables is it ?

Mollymoo67 · 25/07/2026 14:47

Backedoffhackedoff · 24/07/2026 20:14

I can’t stand “we’ve lost sight of what a normal weight is”

the orthorexics answer to every weight thread

OMG absolutely this! And quite often it turns out they’re the ones who’ve lost sight of it and think we should all be stick thin. 🙄

SadiraOfTyr · 25/07/2026 14:46

“Vile” gets used far more than I hear it in real
life (which is never).

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 25/07/2026 14:45

BigBilly · 25/07/2026 13:40

I can't believe "put your big girl pants on" hasn't come up already!!

Big Girl Pants is the slightly less patronising sibling of Use Your Words .

I would say BGP out loud though .In the right circumstances .
But never UYW

Dahliadaily · 25/07/2026 14:35

Lifelover16 · 24/07/2026 20:55

Agree, ending a sentence with no? Is very irritating. Also much, as in “jealous, much?”. Doesn’t make sense.

im also irritated by all the cod psychology. A while ago everyone seemed to be a narcissist, or gaslighting, at the moment it seems to be boundaries and DARVO.

Show quote history

Christ I HATE that “much” thing! Where does it come from?

And on cod psychology: anyone indicating a remotely cordial relationship with one’s relatives is “enmeshed”.

wouldyouwax · 25/07/2026 13:44

Not read it in a while, but ‘the male gaze’ has just popped up, which I dislike.

BigBilly · 25/07/2026 13:40

I can't believe "put your big girl pants on" hasn't come up already!!

OriginalUsername2 · 25/07/2026 13:29

You obviously live somewhere very different to me.

You clearly don’t like this person.

I’m sure their side of the story would be very different.

dudsville · 25/07/2026 13:27

For me, and I realise there might be some knock back, it's threads like these. The ones where MN sort of folds back in on itself.

BigBilly · 25/07/2026 13:20

WatchOutForThatTreeAaaaarggh · 24/07/2026 20:12

I instantly loathe anyone who says ‘first post nails it.’

So frequently the first post does nail it! Would a different phrase to express the same sentiment be better? Not that I can think of one!

PoppieCock · 25/07/2026 12:49

Stressedoutmummyof3 · 24/07/2026 20:27

I can't stand ick. It sounds like it should be used by 5 year olds in the playground.

Show quote history

I agree, it sounds so childish.

Almost like a toddler trying and failing to pronounce 'sick'.

And I've (fortunately) never heard it said in real life.

Stressedoutmummyof3 · 25/07/2026 12:44

EarringsandLipstick · 25/07/2026 00:09

You can’t be serious? It’s not kids that say it. It’s adults, referring to relationships / attraction (or rather, loss of).

It’s widely used. On TV shows, articles are written using it & yes, absolutely used in real life where I am, and I don’t think that’s exceptional.

Show quote history

You obviously live somewhere very different to me. And it absolutely sounds like something little kids would say, not that they do say, but it sounds like they should.
I have never ever heard anyone say it in real life.

PuppySnores · 25/07/2026 12:27

Um. I idly googled my kids' former school to see how it was doing. Up popped an ancient MN thread with my comments under the name I'd used at the time, with some pretty identifiable information.

Two of my kids are still local, and they and their friends are now parenting-age. I asked MN to delete everything under that name, as it contained some full-on parental whinging that I just didn't want my kids to come across, a decade or two later.

Lifelover16 · 25/07/2026 12:18

People who are “spiralling” rather than simply getting worse. Doesn’t make sense - spirals can go in all directions.

everthingisgoingtobefine · 25/07/2026 12:12

IcedPurple · 25/07/2026 12:07

"Well, I told my DH about this thread and he said..."

As if their 'DH has some special authority simply by being male!

haha! I cannot stand those replies.

Noone bloody cares what your stupid husband Dave thinks - it doesnt make him an authority on anything just because he has a penis.

IcedPurple · 25/07/2026 12:09

scalt · 25/07/2026 10:08

In 2020, it was all “selfish arseholes”.
The selfish arseholes who walked their dog more than once a day.
The selfish arseholes who flocked to the beaches.
The selfish arseholes who didn’t mask up.
The selfish arsehole neighbours who had their grandchildren over.
The selfish arseholes who didn’t take in Ukrainian refugees, moments after we were criminalised for having our own families as guests.

Ah yes. People complaining about how 'my town is rammed' when of course they themselves were taking part in the 'ramming'. But it's different for them.

Those were the days eh?

IcedPurple · 25/07/2026 12:07

"Well, I told my DH about this thread and he said..."

As if their 'DH has some special authority simply by being male!

ExtraOnions · 25/07/2026 11:51

“HR Here” “Dr Here” etc etc

”Constructive Dismissal” (despite it not being one)

“Cool Wife” … because you don’t demand to know where your husband is at all times

MySnappySloth · 25/07/2026 11:23

Some of these have fallen out of favour thankfully:

Get your ducks in a row
Have a spa day
I'd go nuclear
Nom nom nom
Food of the Gods - always used to describe something banal like Supernoodles
Nurse/Dr/solicitor here
No is a complete sentence
Call 101 and log it

MaturingCheeseball · 25/07/2026 11:03

“You need to educate yourself” - arrogance on steroids! No, I just have a different opinion from you.

I did try to use, “Did you mean to be so rude?” on sil after one of her frequent barbed comments. She just laughed and went “Oooh, someone’s a bit sensitive!” Epic failure.

NoWordForFluffy · 25/07/2026 10:59

Pineapplesonpizza · 25/07/2026 03:03

omg 'veggies'. Can't bear it. Sets my teeth on edge. I wonder why though.

Show quote history

I have issues with 'ie'-ending words. I think
they sound rather infantile (biccie, brekkie etc). 😫

wouldyouwax · 25/07/2026 10:48

LetMeGoogleThat · 25/07/2026 10:26

For me it's 'Baby' never The Baby, or our Baby or my Baby. Also, Ddog, or Dcat! It irrationally grates on me 😬

‘Baby’ irritates me immensely. As does ‘LO’.

ChocolateCinderToffee · 25/07/2026 10:41

'Entitled' to mean exactly the opposite of what it does mean: presumptuous or arrogant.

Our good friends 'brought' instead of 'bought', 'could of', 'would of' and 'should of'. If people ever read a printed book or magazine, they would not be making these mistakes.

JesseDavisGonnaHangOnInThereNSoul · 25/07/2026 10:34

LetMeGoogleThat · 25/07/2026 10:26

For me it's 'Baby' never The Baby, or our Baby or my Baby. Also, Ddog, or Dcat! It irrationally grates on me 😬

Just using the term baby somehow reminds me of old public info films say circa 50s/60s.