To be annoyed...

[Oartistic]

...by people who refer to 'my eldest' and 'my youngest' when they only have two children?

@CardsforKittens

@Gatehouse77 Don't get me started... I do in fact shut my ears to an awful lot. The elder/younger thing just annoys me because I see it so much on MN need to spend less time here

@BloodyBosch I am sorry for your losses. If you were a RL friend, I would obviously know this about you, and would also refer to your DC in the same way. If one of my own DC died (Heaven forbid), the remaining one wouldn't suddenly become my only child. However, I think we can probably assume that the vast majority of people who mis-use elder/younger haven't suffered a bereavement. If we are all constantly trying to bear in mind the (thankfully very small) minority of people who have experienced something dreadful, very few people would ever post about the minor-but-teeth-grinding irritations of life on MN at all.

@AmIRightOrAMeringue, it's a question comparatives and superlatives.

Examples:

Good - better - best

'My DP is good in bed.
His brother is better in bed.
His boss is best in bed'. That kind of thing.

Bad - worse - worst

Younger is the younger of two. Youngest is the youngest of more than two. Elder/eldest works in the same way!

That's a whole new level of pedantry op, even for Mumsnet.

Silly!

I am sure there's a Topic for this stuff...