MIL calling other granny a “chimney stack”

[mrsneezy]

MIL told dniece that her (other) grandmother was a “chimney stack” because she smokes. My dd heard this and repeated it. Neither girl knows what it means really (aged 3 and 4). My dd doesn’t even know what smoking is, so hard to explain, but we did talk about calling people names.

How would you handle saying something to MIL (it was said in her house)? It’s going to cause trouble because MIL doesn’t like to be told anything!

(Haven’t seen SIL, smokers daughter, yet so don’t know her thoughts on the matter.)

I disagree with PPs, I think it is name calling. Descriptive would be calling her "a smoker". Adults shouldn't undermine each other in front of children. IMO it's fine to say "x is a smoker, but smoking is bad for you". That's factual.