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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:
StrongerOrWeaker · 15/01/2022 08:17

I don't like all the acronyms either but speaking in 'codes' is used as a way to bond with a group, ie you have a specific way to interact with other members of the group. Of course the acronyms are all available to check but I wonder if that still works on some level.

I really dislike YABU. I can't help but picture a group of teenage girls at a sleepover. AIBU to find Jack fit? Giggle giggle. There's no need for a YABU section. All topics are covered elsewhere on the site under a proper name.

I don't like that posts are posted chronologically. I would prefer replies to be underneath the post one is responding to as in the guardian or Facebook. I end reading lots of messages that I don't care about when people go off on a tangent, have an argument etc

I find it fascinating how the first few responses set the tone for the rest of the thread.

MrJollyLivesNextDoor · 15/01/2022 08:40

@latetothefisting

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?

I imagine her Coutts bank card says C E Mountbatten Windsor?

JamieFrasersBigSwingingKilt · 15/01/2022 08:45

Poor comprehension skills so people miss key points, don't answer the question, ask random stuff, get hung up on the wrong stuff, etc.

I didn't know so many people were as anxious or insecure as so many posts show.

And how blinkered some are by their own experiences (or lack of) which means they're so negative and unhelpful in their responses.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

The royal family
Melsonby · 15/01/2022 08:49

The gullibility to trolls

Melsonby · 15/01/2022 08:50

How often people think something is specific to mumsnet as though it's the first and only place on the Internet for community forums

Riverlee · 15/01/2022 09:06

I always wonder why people do a name change, have to announce they’ve name changed. Why not just change your name, write your post, then revert back to old name? Or set up a new account to post new thread?

Contactmap · 15/01/2022 09:15

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

CarlaH · 15/01/2022 09:19

People whose partners who have a 'hobby' which can't be named because it would be outing FFS.

Lots of people run, cycle, play golf or football or whatever. I doubt they can be identified unless their partner is a clown or unicyclist or whatever.

mafted · 15/01/2022 09:22

@Riverlee

I always wonder why people do a name change, have to announce they’ve name changed. Why not just change your name, write your post, then revert back to old name? Or set up a new account to post new thread?
Probably to avoid the inevitable troll hunting "interesting first post OP" 🧐🤨🤔 type posts.
GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 15/01/2022 09:23

The uber-hygienic thing - washing towels so often, clean pyjamas for dcs every night, etc. The most memorable for me, was the poster who couldn’t possibly ever use the same towel her dh had - it’d have his dead skin cells on it - eeewww!

How some posters ever manage to have sex, I do sometimes wonder. Maybe they go over him with Dettol and a Brillo pad first.

sqirrelfriends · 15/01/2022 09:24

Pile ones in AIBU, everything seems to be going ok, until one poster starts picking something from the OP apart/ takes offence and the nastiness begins.

It's almost like some people like being awful Smile

Sparklingbrook · 15/01/2022 09:25

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

The uber-hygienic thing - washing towels so often, clean pyjamas for dcs every night, etc. The most memorable for me, was the poster who couldn’t possibly ever use the same towel her dh had - it’d have his dead skin cells on it - eeewww! How some posters ever manage to have sex, I do sometimes wonder. Maybe they go over him with Dettol and a Brillo pad first.
The same people that are quite happy to give their partner oral sex but ask for new cutlery if there's a tiny stain on a knife. Grin
HobgoblinGold · 15/01/2022 09:26

No edit function.

How mean some people can be.

The fact you can't look up a person by clicking on there name (on mobile) - this I think contributes to previous.

When I click into a topic area it doesn't appear as a list as on the normal page.

skellingtonboot · 15/01/2022 09:32

People who read nothing other than the opening post (and sometimes not even that!) before wading in with their totally redundant opinions.

No thought to check and see if the OP has posted any updates, and certainly absolutely no attempt to read any of the other responses - or even just the most recent ones (which might give a clue as to whether a thread is a zombie).

One got resurrected yesterday for no obvious reason and the number of posters jumping on to berate the OP for not being vaccinated/boosted, when this is actually a BIG CLUE to the fact that the thread is almost a year old - and if they had even bothered to read the OPs updates at the time then they would see that it all got resolved.

The OP has actually kindly come back to update people and point out (very good naturedly)that she posted over a year ago but there are still people giving their opinion based on just the opening post.

Sparklingbrook · 15/01/2022 09:33

How seriously some take MN, and themselves.

Snoopsnoggysnog · 15/01/2022 09:33

People who write DDog. Just why??

Exhausteddog · 15/01/2022 09:38

The uber hygiene brigade showering at least 3 times a day, washing sheets daily and towels after each use, does seem at odds with thinking about the environment, which anyone considering buying a car, or having another child is always encouraged to do (not unreasonably)

riotlady · 15/01/2022 09:42

People who apparently earn massive amounts of income but can’t do basic maths or budgeting. “We have no mortgage and £5000 a month income, can we afford to have a baby?”

LadyEloise1 · 15/01/2022 09:47

The abbreviations - In the beginning I wondered at the involvement of people's doctors in their lives til I realised it was grand parents not general practitioner. Blush

CouldThisReallyBe · 15/01/2022 09:47

How black and white some of the responses on the relationship boards are. Life is full of shades of grey but the responses are always "red flag, LTB" or "you're massively over invested/over thinking/over reacting".

LittleBearPad · 15/01/2022 09:53

@skellingtonboot

People who read nothing other than the opening post (and sometimes not even that!) before wading in with their totally redundant opinions.

No thought to check and see if the OP has posted any updates, and certainly absolutely no attempt to read any of the other responses - or even just the most recent ones (which might give a clue as to whether a thread is a zombie).

One got resurrected yesterday for no obvious reason and the number of posters jumping on to berate the OP for not being vaccinated/boosted, when this is actually a BIG CLUE to the fact that the thread is almost a year old - and if they had even bothered to read the OPs updates at the time then they would see that it all got resolved.

The OP has actually kindly come back to update people and point out (very good naturedly)that she posted over a year ago but there are still people giving their opinion based on just the opening post.

The See All, See Next function should have helped this but it definitely hasn’t solved it
ScabbyHorse · 15/01/2022 10:09

@CouldThisReallyBe I agree

Also, no one really puts their heating on much.

Sparklingbrook · 15/01/2022 10:10

People who read nothing other than the opening post (and sometimes not even that!) before wading in with their totally redundant opinions

That's always most apparent when a zombie thread gets resurrected. There was one yesterday about newborn ear piercing from 2014 and everyone was wading in with their comments to the OP. Grin

LittleBearPad · 15/01/2022 10:14

@Sparklingbrook

People who read nothing other than the opening post (and sometimes not even that!) before wading in with their totally redundant opinions

That's always most apparent when a zombie thread gets resurrected. There was one yesterday about newborn ear piercing from 2014 and everyone was wading in with their comments to the OP. Grin

I’m always intrigued by the posters who read the warning - this is a zombie thread do you want post (or whatever it says) and think yes I need to add my two pennorth.

People who have a similar issue I feel more sympathy for as they think it’s the right thread to get advice on. But that’s not the majority…

stuntbubbles · 15/01/2022 10:14

The cult of hot chocolate. Nowhere else on the internet is this banal beverage discussed so thoroughly, with breathless wonder, schedules, tips, gadgets, hot chocolate stations (?), gift ideas – “I made them a mug filled with sachets, marshmallows, a hot chocolate stirrer [ed’s note: WTF is that?], wrapped in cellophane” HOW IS THIS AN ACCEPTABLE GIFT, the ins and outs of cleaning the Velvetiser, debate, on and on