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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To call someone else's child 'It'?

21 replies

fortheloveof · 12/05/2012 21:07

DS had a friend round to play today. His mother phoned to ask what time she should pick him up and i gaily replied 'Don't worry, I can take It home no problem'.

I apologised for the slip of the tongue and how we laughed but am privately hoping she wasn't offended

Anyone care to share their best/worst Freudian slip to amuse console me ?

OP posts:

ragingmull · 12/05/2012 21:10

Haha.

Well people always refer to my DS as a girl and I mean always, it definitely doesn't offend me. Don't think he's ever been called an "it" though.

MarriedInVegas · 12/05/2012 21:13

lol that made me laugh i dont think its offensive at all, just a slip of the tongue! if it helps, dh is always pulling me up on calling my lovely dd "it" and "that"

hth

DeathByChocolate01 · 12/05/2012 21:31

I work at a stable yard and we always call the nasty horses "it"... a couple of times now I have accidentally done it in front of the owners. It wouldn't be so bad if we referred to all the horses that way, but all the owners know that we only do it to the grumpy horses nobody likes.

WorraLiberty · 12/05/2012 22:15

fortheloveof That did make me laugh

We threw an 80th Birthday party for my Dad last night.

My 85yr old Aunt was telling me something about her holiday being cancelled and I politely said, "Oh that's a shitty!" ....I'd actually meant to say "Oh that's a shame" or "Oh that's a pity"...but I was a bit drunk and mixed my words up

I was mortified because she's very 'old school' and not the sort of person to swear. Or so I thought...until she replied, "Shitty? It fucked me off no end!"

Original poster

fortheloveof · 12/05/2012 22:35

Ha ha worra would like to meet your aunt! My grandmother is a bit like that, very well to do until she has a drink then drops her Hs and swears like a trooper!

OP posts:

StealthPolarBear · 12/05/2012 22:39

rainydaysarebad · 12/05/2012 22:40

An old school friend met me in town a few months after DD was born and looked at her and said "Is that yours?". I didn't bother keeping in contact.

WorraLiberty · 12/05/2012 22:42

I think she did it for effect really cos all her grown up kids and grand kids were there and none of us had ever heard her swear.

There was something shockingly hilarious about it that we'll now never forget

Original poster

fortheloveof · 12/05/2012 22:43

DBC - reminds me of a pregnant friend who always called her unborn baby 'It' rather than 'the baby' which I found strange at the time.

Oh shit, memories of my first labour flooding back shouting at the midwife 'Just get the thing out!!!!!

OP posts:

Original poster

fortheloveof · 12/05/2012 22:46

Oh rainy that's horrendous, how did you contain yourself?

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BitchyHen · 12/05/2012 22:49

I do that all the time.
The other week my brain couldn't decide between telling a boy at the school where I work not to draw or scribble on his work.
So of course I told him not to dribble!
He was not impressed.

WorraLiberty · 12/05/2012 22:51

rainy not keeping in contact (unless you couldn't be bothered anyway) was quite OTT in my opinion.

Lots of people refer to babies as 'it' when they don't know the sex.

It's a bit crass but it's certainly not some sort of massive insult either.

knowotumean · 12/05/2012 22:52

I told my boss "Goodbye Arse" on the phone one day. His name sounded nothing like arse and it was a total freudian slip. It, I mean he was a total arse though.

WorraLiberty · 12/05/2012 22:53

Bitchy I'm so childish, I find things like that hilarious

SaveTheEmpire · 12/05/2012 22:55

Oh gosh, I did this the other day. An HV walked past me whilst I was holding my friend's little boy (she was in the loo and he got upset). She gave me a bit of an odd look, I think she remembered I have a girl, but was holding a baby all in blue.

I was just thinking that it was none of her business when my mouth opened and words started coming out.

"it's... I mean... This... Isn't mine... LittleSave is just there."

Oh god. This isn't mine? This???

Original poster

fortheloveof · 12/05/2012 23:04

Hhmmm, hard to explain worra but I know what you mean. When she spoke the emphasis was on 'It' as in 'the baby' or 'bean' or 'bump'. eg. It will sleep in my room or I've got It a carseat. Clear as mud?

Bitchy and know thankyou both for making me

OP posts:

WorraLiberty · 12/05/2012 23:07

I've called my own kids IT in the past

My eldest is now 20 and still hasn't twigged it stands for Irritating Twat

sparkle12mar08 · 13/05/2012 10:03

It's not a mistake I could imagine making tbh, and I would be a bit shocked and nonplussed, but if it's a good friendship I don't see it being a problem.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 13/05/2012 10:05

... am laughing my head off at this thread..

WifiNappies · 13/05/2012 10:07

I've called my own DD "it"
Think it's habit from when she was in utero and we didn't know her gender/sex (can never remember which one it is and I always get done on here for saying the wrong one)

Original poster

fortheloveof · 13/05/2012 12:00

sparkle - DS's friend is a charming wee lad and no bother at all to look after so it really was a slip of the tongue rather than an expression of my attitude towards him.

I know his mum probably won't give it a second thought but !

OP posts:

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