To ask about the weird things you only learned from MN?

[Blanchedupetitpois]

It seems like in MN world there are all kinds of rules that I swear I’ve never seen expressed or followed in real life. What have you been most surprised by? I’ll start:

1. Adults don’t celebrate birthdays, and if you expect any recognition of yours, you’re being childish.

1. Halloween is exclusively an American import with no history in this country, and celebrating it is therefore tacky and meaningless.

1. Trick or treating is glorified begging.

1. Absolutely nobody other than you or your DP is remotely interested in your pregnancy, and even telling another person that you’re pregnant is akin to riding a donkey down the high street while calling for palm fronds to be laid at your feet in recognition of the impending miracle of your unborn child.

I'm starting to get cross now because you are annoying me Salem and if you don't stop being offended for the sake of being offended then I'm going to get angry!
Fag is not an offensive word in the uk, you are in a uk website so I'm afraid you're going to have to suck it up. Stop being so bloody entitled about language ffs.

Things I’d never heard of before mum sent:

• people not having loo brushes because they are disgusting
• mooncups
• period pants
• the fact that if you have small kids but can’t get in a P&C space because someone without kids has parked there you have no right to be annoyed because you are “entitled”.

“. I am not saying you guys or bad or good, just saying that the words you use are not part of the day to day language of other English-speaking nation.”

It’s embarrassing for you that you continue to be unable to grasp that WE are the ones who actually speak proper English.

England. English. See?

I’m sure Australia has its own equivalent to MN you could join instead if you find our language as offensive as you keep on insisting you do.

@WhirlyGigWhirlyGig As I've said repeatedly before, this is not a UK website. The .com gives it away. If it was .co.uk then it would be. You also forget and cannot seem to wrap your head around the fact that the internet is a global village. Not everyone on this site will be from the UK. If you used the term on a closed UK-only forum or membership board, that is one thing. But this is the internet. Can't you understand that people from all over the world will visit here? You seem to think this is a cloistered website which never has people from outside the UK. Whether it is said or not in the UK is irrelevant. You are on the internet. It is a global village.

On which part of your body do you wear a thong @Salem

Here is the Guardian, a very right on paper, using the word ‘fags’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/25/fags-fashion-jam-we-are-addicted-to-brands
Are you going to have a go at them too?

And here www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/24/even-one-cigarette-a-day-greatly-raises-cardiovascular-risk-experts-warn

Here as well www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/jul/15/healthandwellbeing.smoking

@SaucyJack So using an offensive slur is ok, because it is 'proper English'. Really. Then lets use the N word. It is embarrassing for you that you cannot seem to grasp the concept of 'global village', and you cannot seem to grasp that the polite, decent and civilised thing to do if someone is offended by a word, is not use it. Why is it that some people have such a dogged attachment to a word that not even civility and kindness and not wanting to cause offence isn't enough to stop them from saying it?

Yes strangely Salem I can understand it can be accessed by anyone from anywhere in the world. But it originates from the uk and as such you have no right to tell us what language we use just because where you are from, a particular word is deemed offensive. Which part of that do you fail to understand?

As I've said repeatedly before, this is not a UK website. The .com gives it away. If it was .co.uk then it would be.

So how would you know if something was an American website then?

@sweeneytoddsrazor My feet.

@WhirlyGigWhirlyGig Again, it comes down to common decency. If you are on an international board, as this is, and if you know that a certain term is offensive to a majority of English-speaking countries, surely the decent thing is to not use that term. Would it really hurt you not to use it? Is it really that much to ask?

@Salem and in England it is a type of underwear. Same word different meaning.

@VisitorsEntrance Does it matter? The internet is a global village.

@sweeneytoddsrazor Has thong ever been deemed an offensive slur by any one though, let alone by the majority of English-speaking countries?

No Salem, common decency would be for you to accept that the word has more than one meaning and to use fag instead of cigarette is perfectly acceptable in the uk. Instead you keep banging on that because you find it offensive an entire land mass should stop using it. You are being ridiculous.

Matched betting! Me & DP doing rather nicely at it too!

So using an offensive slur is ok, because it is 'proper English'. Really. Then lets use the N word.

One more time - people don’t use it because there is no other, non-offensive meaning to it.

Does it matter? The internet is a global village.

Well you are using the fact that it is mumsnet.com rather than mumsnet.co.uk as some proof that it is not a uk based website.
There is no country signifier for American websites as they all have .com. By your logic there is no such thing as a US based website.

@WhirlyGigWhirlyGig Again, whether it is acceptable in the UK or not is irrelevant. You are on the internet, a global village. Just because it is acceptable in the UK, does not mean you should use it on an international web forum. The UK does not trump the rest of the world. Whether it has more than one meaning is irrelevant. You seem to think because you are in the UK then the rest of the world is irrelevant, you are the one being ridiculous. If someone tells you a word or term is offensive, the decent, civilised thing is to not use it any more. If you had no problems not using the N word, why do you have such problems with this? Unless, as I suspect, you use the N word as well, as you don't seem a very tolerant or considerate person.

Oh, people quit feeding it! Anyone who scolds someone for not having fucking couscous and quinoa and salads at a fucking evening do is obviously not playing with a full deck.

Look at what google gave me as the first search when I typed in fags.
Quick. Someone tell google the internet is global.

@CoughLaughFart Wrong. It is a colour. And regardless if there is another non-offensive term, how does that alter anything? The term is offensive in most parts of the world, certainly most English-speaking parts of the world. If you cannot write cigarettes or cigs instead of using that term, then you need a dictionary or thesaurus.

Whoooaaa Salem you are moving in to dangerous territory there assuming because I have defended the right to use a word that has a different meaning and it offends you, that I'm a racist who uses the N word and I'm not a tolerant or considerate person?
Seriously? You're going to go there? I won't even dignify that with a response...

@dontalltalkatonce If that is to me, I have never even uttered the words couscous or quinoa, so I think you have the wrong person.

This is like someone standing staring through my bathroom window and then complaining they can see me naked.