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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To say knackered to my 2.5 year old dd?

65 replies

callmewhatever · 23/08/2014 10:52

I generally say to my dd "you're knackered". But my dw has reprimanded me on numerous occasions stating that it's rude for a 2 year old to be saying this (she has said it before when she's been tired). I just assumed it was a normal turn of phrase but apparently I am wrong. So mn jury can we put it to you? Smile

OP posts:
nailslikeknives · 23/08/2014 10:57

My parents 65-70, would disapprove. I don't but cos of that I say shattered around the kids instead.

FuckyNell · 23/08/2014 10:58

I use it but my mum wouldn't. She'd say 'cream crackered' instead Grin

StillStayingClassySanDiego · 23/08/2014 11:00

It's not a word I'd have wanted my children saying when they were younger and if it was said by a child in my reception class I'd be Hmm.

squirrelweasel · 23/08/2014 11:00

What is wrong with the word knackered? Confused

chubbyhez · 23/08/2014 11:02

Knackered always seemed to occupy a strange space somewhere between swear word and rude when I was growing up. I don't know why.

StillStayingClassySanDiego · 23/08/2014 11:02

I'm 46 , maybe it's a generational thing.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 23/08/2014 11:02

Some people believe knackered somehow relates to "knackers"/ testicles and is therefore rude.

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 11:03

There have been so many threads about this and it's a word that seems to divide people

It's origins were the knackers yard where old horses went to be shot. So in my book it's not rude or offensive and I would use it and I almost never swear.

Some people think it means something more sexual. Is you mum one of those or just very straight laced?

AntoinetteCosway · 23/08/2014 11:03

I used this in a job interview once (tiredness was relevant to the job!) and the interviewers both laughed. I had no idea it was inappropriate until afterwards when I mentioned it to a friend Blush I did get the job!

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 11:04

I'm 50 StillStaying.

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 11:05

It's not a pretty word, but not offensive either.

Username12345 · 23/08/2014 11:07

Never heard of it being rude or offensive. Confused

I use it all the time and I never swear. Is it an age/regional thing?
A lot of people in Yorkshire use it.

squirrelweasel · 23/08/2014 11:09

I use it all the time, had no idea some people think it rude!

capant · 23/08/2014 11:09

I don't have an issue with this word at all. But since some people do, I agree that it is not good for a very young child to be using it.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 23/08/2014 11:10

Problem is, I didn't realise there was an issue with the word until reading one of the threads on Mumsnet....

MamaPain · 23/08/2014 11:10

I always thought, based on who and how it was used, it was similar to "going for a slash" not pleasant but not offensive or rude.

crazykat · 23/08/2014 11:11

I say it to my kids all the time but I've told them they aren't allowed to say it.

But I was raised in the army so swear like a squaddie though I'm trying to curb it in front of the kids.

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 11:11

I think it's people getting confused between being knackered and knackers. They assume that the origin of knackered is the same as knackers and therefore rude.

Migsy1 · 23/08/2014 11:12

I think it used to be a term to mean tired after sex.

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 11:12

So all those posters who do use it, do you think it's rude or not?

Nanny0gg · 23/08/2014 11:13

It was one step below swearing when I was growing up so I wouldn't use it to children or with people I didn't know well or in the workplace.

BikeRunSki · 23/08/2014 11:13

The origin of"knackered" is that it means "sexually exhausted". That is why many people consider it rude.

I encourage my children to say "pooped", which i guess is only slightly better.

miffybun73 · 23/08/2014 11:14

Yes.

Doesn't it mean "exhausted from lots of sex?!"

HappyAgainOneDay · 23/08/2014 11:14

It is a rude word. I do not use rude words......

firesidechat · 23/08/2014 11:14

I think that's a very modern definition and not the one I grew up with Migsy.

It just means tired and worn out, like an old horse going to the knackers yard.