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AIBU?

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Original poster

To say that 'fart' is not an appropriate word for a 2yo?

271 replies

IcecreamBus · 03/12/2015 20:53

Basically, DH thinks it's fine to say farty-farty whenever DD has wind, which she thinks is hilarious and now copies.

I've said that I don't think it's a nice word for a child to learn. My argument is that fart is along the same lines as 'crap', not offensive as an adult but you wouldn't want your toddler saying it. He says it's not the same at all and that fart is utterly non-offensive. It's not a huge deal, we're kind of just a bit bemused with each other's views over it. So who is being unreasonable?

OP posts:
Poppyred85 · 03/12/2015 22:48

My not quite 3 year old ds says "ooh I've got a noisy bottom!" And my husband has trained taught him to say "mummy's noisy bottom" whenever he (dh) farts"

BestZebbie · 03/12/2015 23:02

33/don't think 'fart' is unsuitable for children......but what is this about 'knackered' being a swear?? Fart is at least referring to a socially unacceptable bodily function, but knackered is just 'worn out, no use left in it', as in, 'that horse is ready to be sent to the knacker's yard'. Are there people assuming it relates to testicles, or something?

Theresomethingaboutdairy · 03/12/2015 23:10

We dont use fart, knackered or crap in our house. Its definately a blow off! DH used to say fart but I have converted him and he would never say it around the Dcs. We say bottom instead of bum too. I really hate hearing children using the word fart.

Littleonesaid · 03/12/2015 23:10

YANBU. My judgy pants would be up round my neck if I heard a 2 YO say "fart".

Growing up it was referred to as a "D'Oyly Carte".

I was in my teens when I finally realised this was rhyming slang and apparently unique to my family. Blush

Mrsw28 · 03/12/2015 23:11

I don't like the word "fart". I'm 25, we never said it when growing up, we said "fluff" and I don't want my DCs saying fart. I agree it's along the same lines as "crap" and "sod".

Theresomethingaboutdairy · 03/12/2015 23:11

I am 39, by the way. Dh is 48. Oh and I was taught that knackered meant exhausted after sex. Not sure if thats true or not.

shrunkenhead · 03/12/2015 23:16

I thought knackers were another name for testicles! And the dislike of the word stemmed from that....Please correct me if I'm wrong

LabradorMama · 03/12/2015 23:19

I remember being told as a pre teen that 'knackered' was unacceptable at school because it meant 'sexually exhausted'

'Fart' was a swear word in our house until we became teenagers, then all bets were off. DS (2yo) says 'toot'. A friends daughter says 'pop off' which I think is really weird.

Whenwillwe3meetagain · 03/12/2015 23:19

Yes I think I was told knackered was shattered after sex. But I use it all the time (I have a 1 yr old) as meaning I'm tired altho wish it was for the original meaning I was told Wink

madmother1 · 03/12/2015 23:21

We used to call farts, pardons!

wellthatstornit · 03/12/2015 23:25

im weird about it.....I absolutely HATE to hear swearing and crude/vulgar words come out of kids mouths. I have 5 kids aged 22, 18, 16, 12 and 5 and dont like any of them to use words like fart and crap in front of me...obviously the older ones will say stuff like that, and they will get the raised eyebrow.

If they (the older ones) swear in front of me (on the occasions they slip up and forget my rule of not swearing in my ear shot, they will get short shrift for it, and depending on my mood, maybe a bollocking!

My 12 year old said the f word in school, and was caught by the teacher, and got a detention for it....I was absolutely fuming....not because of his detention, but because he let me down with my no swearing rule....is not about me being a pearl clutcher at all, because i swear like an absolute navvy...its one of my favourite passtimes, and my pet name for DH is the 4 letter 'c' word, or the 4 letter 't' word, but i do it out of earshot of the kids....but its more about respect for your elders.

I was brought up big on respect for elders, and not answering back/mouthing off/using inappropriate words in front of or to them, and its just stuck, and something i have instilled in my kids. MY house rule is that they dont use words like that in front of me as a sign of respect, and they know i dont like it, and i have brought them up to respect my feelings and wishes, as kids should respect their parents.

I know they swear when out with friends, DH swears like a trooper in front of the kids with gay abandon and doesnt give a flying fig, so they have heard alsorts off him

my 5 year old says trumped, but if he repeats a swear word that he has heard O/H say or one of his older siblings, and doesnt realise that its a 'naughty' word, and hears my sharp intake of breath, he immediately apologises profusely, and says im sorry mummy, i didnt know it was a bad word, i wont say it again, i promise.

I dont know why im so anal about it, with a vocabulary like mine, i just hate to hear words like that (and worse) come out of kids mouths...and cringe if i hear them at full volume...as i often do in my street (bit of a rough estate!)

NeededANameChangeAnyway · 03/12/2015 23:25

We used to say pimp when I was growing up...ah innocent times!

50ShadesofNope · 03/12/2015 23:33

I was brought up in a 'pump' household. Even now I don't tend to say fart without worrying my mother will hear me and tell me off!

MintyChops · 03/12/2015 23:36

YABU.

Crazypetlady · 04/12/2015 00:40

Fart was never an issue growing up we used i wouldn't think twice about ds saying it. If anybody judged me for it I wouldn't be able to find a fuck to give.

Alibabsandthe40Musketeers · 04/12/2015 00:51

Pump is awful, so is trump, bottom-burp and all the other ridiculous names. Lower middle class over anxiousness.

We say fart, the DSs say fart. DS2 in particular finds the whole process hilarious, but then he is only 4.

Secondtimeround75 · 04/12/2015 01:01

I'm 40
We fart

reni2 · 04/12/2015 01:19

Maybe she can say "I had an eruption" Grin.

TheHouseOnTheLane · 04/12/2015 01:28

It's a coarse word. An ugly one. YANBU

Topseyt · 04/12/2015 01:54

Aahh! Another great fart thread. Grin

I am 49. We fart in this house, and we call a fart a fart. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. We all do it. Even the Queen farts.

To those who like to say trump, you do pause to wonder what Donald Trump must call them, don't you? Grin Do you think of him as Donald Fart? Grin Perhaps that is rather apt anyway.

God forbid he should get to be President anyway, although President Fart does have a fantastic ring to it. It would certainly stick in this house. Xmas Grin

mathanxiety · 04/12/2015 02:01

We used to say toot or honk, when the DCs were small, depending on circumstances... However, once the DCs went to school, it was fart all the way. I didn't mind. It was just one of those things. It is a word for something that can smell quite unpleasant, so I don't know why we try to redeem it by use of front parlour terms.

We used to call them 'pardons' too when growing up, Madmother1 Smile Or 'Ibegyourpardons'. We were the only family in school to use that term. Maybe that is why I didn't mind my DCs using the term everyone else used.

Knackered refers to being taken apart and rendered -- as in old horses or livestock taken limb from limb by the knackers and rendered for glue or ingredients for dog food. Hence 'knackers' as a term for the bottom feeders of society. In Ireland a knacker is akin to what a chav is in the UK. Hence also, knackered is a term for being absolutely finished off, exhausted, having given all you had, and doesn't necessarily have the sexual association.

TeenageWildlife · 04/12/2015 02:02

Fuck! Am I on Mumsnet? Since when is fart swearing? not as if we're saying cuntflaps. Even my vair grand dearly departed DMIL wouldn't have raised a brow at the word, only one didn't draw attention.

A fart would smell the same by any other name.

Canyouforgiveher · 04/12/2015 02:03

When we need to dicuss them, we call them farts. We don't often need to discuss them

We don't talk about them much in our family. Probably because dh and I don't find them funny. I know some people do. I don't. I actually don't get that humour but that's the thing about humour - people are different. I doubt if I would ever have been attracted to a man who found farts funny. but some things I find funny would probably leave the fart-laughers cold.

We also don't talk much about bowel movements or crapping or peeing or burping. It just isn't our thing.

claraschu · 04/12/2015 02:37

None of us find farting or shitting funny or noteworthy either. My children were never particularly into bathroom humour when they were little because we were so completely casual about it. Our kids didn't even know that it was private and considered embarrassing until they were quite old.

I am 50 and American, and my parents used the expression "have gas", as in: "If you have a stomach ache, maybe it's just gas". I seem to remember this was a normal way to mention it. It wasn't funny in my parent's day either, just normal.

Senpai · 04/12/2015 02:38

wellthatstornit Do as I say, not as I do. Grin

I agree though, I don't want to hear my DD swear either which means I have to watch my own mouth around her. Kids don't know how to use them appropriately and in moderation. They use them like they would any other word in the dictionary.

My take on "fart" is that I personally don't have a problem with it. But I want her to be able to have play dates with the nice kids, and those parents don't always allow that word. So I keep it to "toot".