"treats" - really cringey?

[Poppyismyfavourite]

AIBU to find the word "treats" really cringey??

As in "oh I'm on a diet so limiting the amount of treats I eat" or "I brought some treats for the kids"...

In my mind it just really doesn't mean human food at all, it conjures up images of people knawing on a pedigree dentastix... or those disgusting meat sticks that the cats like...

*LIGHTHEARTED (obviously)! Yes I know I have too much time on my hands, but I'm still WFH and a bit bored...

Oh, and pamper/ing... that one is the worst.

I find both the word and the concept cringy. If you want to eat cake or have a bath or go to London for the day, just do it, the whole idea that you somehow deserve it or that you're indulging yourself is profoundly childish and silly to me.

I hate 'snacks' because there's no such thing as a 'snack'. What it is, is eating between meals. If you're having a bar of chocolate you aren't 'having a snack', you're eating unnecessary food.

'Treats' is marginally better than 'goodies' and I also hate the turning down of a bit of cake with 'I can't, I'm being good' (by extension the rest of us are being bad then?) and the implication of some food being 'naughty'.

It's just food! But some people eat more in 'snacks' than i eat as proper meals!

@Mrsjayy

No treats were chocolate peanuts and I think you got toffee ones too,

You’re right. Not Minstrels, M&Ms.

@Watermelontea

Those all make me uncomfortable too (splurge, spoiling, pampering) and I think I've just realised why - they all have some implication of underlying sadness (tinged with a bit of guilt).

It's the implication of trying to gain emotional fulfilment through some form of consumption (and the kind of guilty justification of it).

I use both words. Sue me.

I hate both ‘treats’ and ‘snacks’.

Thinking of some food as ‘treats’ is often quite problematic in terms of just having a healthy attitude to food. It’s generally a category of foods or desserts of little to no nutritional value that people graze on in between meals. And implicitly positions other kinds of food as just not as good or interesting. It’s not a good message for anyone.

Personally I just eat things and call them what they are. If we have pancakes for breakfast - it’s pancakes not a ‘treat’. If I want a bit of cake with my coffee, it’s coffee and cake not a ‘treat’.

I find it annoying yes, but mostly because it makes sweets sound like a reward or something forbidden, that can't be had as part of a balanced diet.

I agree OP and I hate snack too. Even worse though is "snacking on"

As in, "I was snacking on some crisps"

NO!

Maybe you got chocolate treats but I remember the peanut ones .

Can I add 'yummy' to the list? 'Yummy treats' has got to be some kind of meta cringe phrase

Squirrels me too! Those words conjure up a tacky spa and some nasty pink champagne.

I don't mind the words treats, snacks, goodies, picky bits or any of that gubbins. However, if you refer to your husband as your hubby or worse the hubster, then I will reach down your throat and rip our your heart.

NO! No "picky bits" and for that matter, no GUBBINS either!

eat all your dinner and you can have some sweets

No matter what word you use, this sets up a unhealthy food relationship.

The way we discuss food with “treats” “being good” etc is awful. No wonder people’s attitude to food is screwed up.

@welldonesquirrels - Yes! Plus I think they also conjure up overly girly connotations. You don’t tend to get men saying ‘Ohhh I’m gong to have a bath and pamper myself!’ or ‘I think I’ll splurge on this fancy new candle’ very often.
I think of women in white robes, headbands and those stupid fluffy slippers in a spa sipping Prosecco like they do in films.

No treats were chocolate peanuts and I think you got toffee ones too,

Yes, as in the old joke that you shouldn't worry if you accidentally feed your dog peanuts as they'll come out a treat

Another big Yes for hating the word 'snack'. Most of all, I detest that TV advert for some food or other where they're singing "I finally found the right snack!" to the tune of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. If I ever watched the ad for long enough to see what it is they're trying to sell, I would be certain not to buy it!

Yes! Treats is awful. “I wanted to treat the kids to McDonald’s” makes me feel so judgy. Snacks makes me think of annoying people who would spell it “snax”.

To the cat treats are called yum yums. Wish I'd never started that as I feel a right idiot shouting "Haribo, yum yums" when I want to get him in.

I don't mind the word but it annoys me when 'treats' are so often that they're not treats any more. So kids being told that they can have so many treats a day, or that they'll lose a treat if they're naughty, etc. If it's expected or part of the normal routine then IMO it's not a treat. Treats are by definition out of the ordinary!

“Treats” doesn’t put me up nor down, because I don’t associate it with food, and I can’t get worked up about “snacks”. What I really dislike is the narrative of food being “naughty” or “being good” because you refuse a cake.

My friend at work is very big on good and bad food, being good, and so on. She is very slim, but her now adult daughter developed really disordered eating, bingeing on “naughty” foods at school because she wasn’t allowed to have them at home.

‘Ohhh I’m gong to have a bath and pamper myself!’

I realise it makes no sense for me to do so, but whenever I hear somebody talking about wanting to be pampered, it just instantly gives me a grim image of an adult wanting to wear a nappy.

I don't mind the word but it annoys me when 'treats' are so often that they're not treats any more. So kids being told that they can have so many treats a day, or that they'll lose a treat if they're naughty, etc. If it's expected or part of the normal routine then IMO it's not a treat. Treats are by definition out of the ordinary!

My sentiments exactly.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

😂😂😂 I get that, complete with baby powder and dummy.