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Original poster

Things you find a bit odd about Mumsnet

346 replies

valerianroot · 14/01/2022 16:39

Let me start by saying this is 100% lighthearted and fueled by being a bit bored in my last hour before weekend officially begins.

Anyway, I ventured onto the Royals board recently and found it a bit weird that people refer to Kate Middleton as Catherine. Now, I know that's her full first name (well I assume it is) but I've never heard anyone IRL refer to her as anything but Kate. Maybe I'm behind the times as my Royals knowledge isn't very up to date (as you'll notice by calling Kate Middleton.)

I'm sure I'll regret starting this but anyone else have anything?

OP posts:
latetothefisting · 14/01/2022 17:23

Mumsnet as a site - the fact there is no edit button! And it's so easy to change your username. I'm sure some people would be less dickish on AIBU if they could actually be identified (even if just by MN, rather than posting under your actual name as on FB).

Mumsnet posters - the fact so many people have no empathy whatsoever, and are unable to imagine life outside of their own exact circumstances - and, linked to the above, posters who say with complete confidence "I don't know anybody who...." Perhaps I'm the weird one, but I wouldn't have the slightest clue if my work colleagues/friends/gym classmates/local shopkeeper showers more than once a day/received a deposit from parents to buy their home/has savings/smokes cannabis etc.etc.! How do these posters KNOW the intimate details of the lives of their every acquaintance?

The Catherine thing I believe that is what her actual family/the RF call her, so by referring to her that way rather than KM [as she's usually referred to in the press] they are assuming some insider knowledge? Although to be fair it is more accurate, as presumably she hasn't been a Middleton for at least a decade. Although I'm not sure what would actually be, e.g. on her bank cards. Catherine Wales? Catherine Cambridge?

Legoisthebest · 14/01/2022 18:01

All the abriviations. DD DS DC DGC DGD DGS DSS DSD.....
You have DH (husband) or DP (partner) but then some people put OH (other half) or SO (significant other).... honestly just write "my husband" (or whatever is relevant).
It's gets so confusing. DF - is that father or friend?
NC
LC
PFB
NT
BM
CF
and so on....
Just write the proper words. It's not like 90s text messages where you had to pay per letter Grin

LizBennet · 14/01/2022 18:05

How dated the site is (the way it looks) 😬

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

The royal family
hanketypankety · 14/01/2022 18:06

@Legoisthebest

All the abriviations. DD DS DC DGC DGD DGS DSS DSD..... You have DH (husband) or DP (partner) but then some people put OH (other half) or SO (significant other).... honestly just write "my husband" (or whatever is relevant). It's gets so confusing. DF - is that father or friend? NC LC PFB NT BM CF and so on.... Just write the proper words. It's not like 90s text messages where you had to pay per letter Grin
This
CaliforniaDrumming · 14/01/2022 18:08

A very high level of social anxiety, I think higher than in real life. In some cases, even paranoia. The belief that school gate mums are cliquey, office colleagues are out to get you, everyone at a party is staring at you and hates you...

Doublevodka · 14/01/2022 18:08

Definitely all the abbreviations beginning with D. I found it really weird when I joined and still do to be honest.

GoodnightGrandma · 14/01/2022 18:09

That you can’t ‘like’ a post.
We put a man on the moon (allegedly) 40 odd years ago, but MN can’t facilitate a like button.

HereticFanjo · 14/01/2022 18:10

I find it weird I no longer find it weird here 😁

Bluebluemoon39 · 14/01/2022 18:11

I called Kate, Catherine on a thread the other day literally because everyone else on there was! Only afterwards I thought "why did I put Catherine? I never call her Catherine!"

I am often bemused by how enraged people become by what are, in my view, rather trivial things. Like a baby crying at a funeral. Literally two weeks later the OP is still stewing over it and everyone (well, most people) are piling on with "absolutely DISGUSTING behaviour" - "these people should be hung,drawn and quartered" type comments,

In RL no one would really care. Same as with all the covid nonsense. I don't know anyone in RL who actually cares that much anymore if someone takes their mask off on a train or something.

JaninaDuszejko · 14/01/2022 18:11

@LizBennet

How dated the site is (the way it looks) 😬
I like the way it looks, I remember what the internet looked like in the 90s and it wasn't pretty. Mumsnet is minimalist.
icebearforpresident · 14/01/2022 18:14

99% of AIBU.

‘AIBU because I don’t like that my husband has been having an affair for the last year?’ No. Leave the bastard.

Or

‘My husband has the flu and has been quite tired and rundown. As a result I’ve done the bulk of the childcare for 7 minutes.’ Leave the bastard.

‘My husband discreetly scratched his arse yesterday’ - leave the bastard, he’s clearly a perverted sex offender with no respect for women.

That said, it’s one of the few boards I regularly read so 🤷‍♀️

shouldhavebeen · 14/01/2022 18:22

Website looks dated in it's design. Absolutely needs to let users Edit or Delete a post.

WorraLiberty · 14/01/2022 18:25

@CaliforniaDrumming

A very high level of social anxiety, I think higher than in real life. In some cases, even paranoia. The belief that school gate mums are cliquey, office colleagues are out to get you, everyone at a party is staring at you and hates you...
Yes, this ^^ definitely.

Although I think a lot of people are saying 'I suffer from anxiety' when what they mean is, they're anxious about a certain thing or situation.

Much like how the word 'bully' if often misused.

sadpapercourtesan · 14/01/2022 18:26

@GoodnightGrandma

That you can’t ‘like’ a post. We put a man on the moon (allegedly) 40 odd years ago, but MN can’t facilitate a like button.
Of course they could Confused

There isn't a "like" button because MN doesn't want one. The majority of users don't want one. Not having mindless crap like "like" buttons is what makes MN stand out. You have to respond meaningfully or not at all.

FlibbertyGiblets · 14/01/2022 18:27

Leave it as it is, clunky and retro.
No to editing. No to a like button.

The abbrs DD, DDS etc were not invented by mumsnet, they were already in use on other, established chatboards, merely adopted by the founders.

SarahJessicaParkin · 14/01/2022 18:27

Too many things to list! Main ones are the ignorance or insensitivity of SOME OF the wealthy and privileged people on here. Also people who are seemingly intelligent with high earning jobs who seem to also be incapable of reading and understanding posts in simple English. Maybe it's an arrogance thing and they just skim read everything

WorraLiberty · 14/01/2022 18:28

@GoodnightGrandma

That you can’t ‘like’ a post. We put a man on the moon (allegedly) 40 odd years ago, but MN can’t facilitate a like button.
That's not the oddest thing imo.

The oddest thing is the often near hysterical reaction to anyone suggesting MN should have a like button 👀 😂

Ineedaduvetday · 14/01/2022 18:29

Anyway, I ventured onto the Royals board recently and found it a bit weird that people refer to Kate Middleton as Catherine. Now, I know that's her full first name (well I assume it is) but I've never heard anyone IRL refer to her as anything but Kate.

Her given name is Catherine but they changed it to Katherine otherwise the initials would be WC (William Catherine)

FunkyPhantom · 14/01/2022 18:29

@icebearforpresident

99% of AIBU.

‘AIBU because I don’t like that my husband has been having an affair for the last year?’ No. Leave the bastard.

Or

‘My husband has the flu and has been quite tired and rundown. As a result I’ve done the bulk of the childcare for 7 minutes.’ Leave the bastard.

‘My husband discreetly scratched his arse yesterday’ - leave the bastard, he’s clearly a perverted sex offender with no respect for women.

That said, it’s one of the few boards I regularly read so 🤷‍♀️

😆😆😆😆

Exactly this, someone will always suggest there's a red flag somewhere 😆😆

The amount of men who've been divorced for not loading a dishwasher properly ( it's true.......some men do attempt it 😁 ) must be huge 😆😆👍

BarefootHippieChick · 14/01/2022 18:29

@Legoisthebest

All the abriviations. DD DS DC DGC DGD DGS DSS DSD..... You have DH (husband) or DP (partner) but then some people put OH (other half) or SO (significant other).... honestly just write "my husband" (or whatever is relevant). It's gets so confusing. DF - is that father or friend? NC LC PFB NT BM CF and so on.... Just write the proper words. It's not like 90s text messages where you had to pay per letter Grin

I've just spent ages on a thread trying to work out what a poster meant because they were using dp, which I assumed meant dear partner, and it didn't seem to fit with what she was saying. Then I realised she meant dear parents!

Yellow85 · 14/01/2022 18:30

Maybe I’m just missing how to do it, but the fact you can’t unbookmark. You have no idea how many times I hit that by mistake when scrolling.

Exhausteddog · 14/01/2022 18:30

Mumsnet posters - the fact so many people have no empathy whatsoever, and are unable to imagine life outside of their own exact circumstances - and, linked to the above, posters who say with complete confidence "I don't know anybody who...." Perhaps I'm the weird one, but I wouldn't have the slightest clue if my work colleagues/friends/gym classmates/local shopkeeper showers more than once a day/received a deposit from parents to buy their home/has savings/smokes cannabisetc.etc.! How do these posters KNOW the intimate details of the lives of their every acquaintance?

Yes and everyone knows much anyone they've ever spoken to earns! I've never asked friends or family what they earn (I know my DSis approx ) and haven't disclosed what I earn.

On a similar tangent the average MN salary seems to be easily within the top 10%, a lot into 6 figures but everyone (who could probably afford one) thinks having a second home or being a landlord, is akin to murdering babies!

I have a good sense of smell but I've never detected how many showers someone has had, whether they washed their fanjo, if they used fabric conditioner or whether they are wearing a scented panty liners just from a couple of sniffs

WorraLiberty · 14/01/2022 18:30

Xposted with @sadpapercourtesan

I do honestly think the tide is very slowly turning on that one. Less and less people seem to be objecting every time the subject is raised, unless they just can't be bothered to get into a bun fight about it.

It might be interesting to do a simple yes/no poll, using the YABU/YANBU voting option.

KatherineJaneway · 14/01/2022 18:31

Those in AIBU who cannot admit they are wrong. Surely they post there for feedback? However some change their narrative as they keep posting and when they get their butts handed to them or, as with two recent posts, they get it taken down as it is 'identifying'. I respect the people who admit 'OK, IABU'.

Howeverdoyouneedme · 14/01/2022 18:33

How socially anxious people are about all manner of things. Answering doors, school runs, I don’t find them weird as such, just that so many people mention it. Perhaps there’s a correlation between that and MN users.
Also how when anyone complains about dogs, someone will inevitably draw a comparison between dogs and children.
AND how many people apparently are on six figures with high powered jobs, yet they’re dicking about on MN for hours on end!