Or is my mother weird for calling female genitalia a "willy"?

[CoalCraft]

(light-hearted)

My parents came round yesterday to see baby DD for the first time, and mum offered to do a nappy change. I went with her to show her where everything was. Mum starts opening DD up and exclaims "oh dear, it (the poo)'s gotten all up in her willy!"

Her. Willy.

At this I suddenly remembered that she'd called it that when I was small too, and not knowing any better, so had I. But it's weird right? A willy is specifically a penis, and the female version is fanny? Anyone else use willy as a slang for vulva? For the record both DD and I are anatomically normal females - we don't have penises!

In case anyone's wondering, yes mum does also use willy for penis, she just makes no distinction - it's so odd!

(Also in before the "use anatomical terms" brigade comes in, DD is far too small to use any words right now, but yes, when she's learning I'll make sure she's aware of the correct words.)

It's very Northern. Is she from the North?

Does anyone know how it works in other cultures? Maybe a brit thing.

My mum used 'willy' to refer to my genitalia as well as my brother's. I didn't find it weird until I was about ten but in retrospect it is pretty odd and I won't do the same if I have a daughter.

I think it was just bits or vagina in our house growing up, fanny was for the playground. In later life, DH introduced me to their word, mimsy, and I have to say I quite like that one despite the dictionary definition!

I hate this. It’s all about shame.

On the plus side I am loving the term tuppence.

Later on in life men get elections and ejaculate and a thousand terms for them. Whereas a woman never swells or discharges. We need words.

My friend calls hers a mooey and I’ve started using that for my own - I prefer it to fanny, which seems a bit vulgar.

My DGM had been in hospital and had to be bathed in bed for a bit, and said all the HCAs used different names. We thought "Auntie Mary" could be confusing if you happened to have one in your family

At least it was that and not Hairy Mary 😂😂😂

That's really odd haha, I remember being told off by my mum for telling people I had a willy

When I was a child my mum called it a doody doo. As I got older she would refer to it as "down below" in a whisper 😂. My cousin called it a strawberry. I have also heard it referred to as a Minnie.

😂 A Willy!
As for poo being called “ A turnout”
That’s so funny!
Best Turnout is a class in horse shows!
“ My old Scottish grandmother referred to
“ Big Jobs”

And MIL called it “ Doing one’s duty”

Love these euphemisms.

Dislike “Having a dump” as a term, but “Laying an egg” had me on n stitches when I first heard it.

Punani and s a term I heard, and mum called it a Fanny.
In USA a fanny is a backside, so things could get confusing.

I used Minnie when my daughter was very small. It’s definitely not a Willie for a girl that’s very wrong. Bits or privates are good words for grandparents I’d say. Are you going to ask her not to do it again?

Sorry, but ‘turn out’... hahahahaha

Not fanny, please not fanny its awful.

My Mum always said tuppence (I am a child of the 70s) so when dd was little I called it her tupsy, just stuck somehow!

"It’s definitely not a Willie for a girl that’s very wrong."

How can it be "wrong"?

It's no more wrong than "bits", "mary", "tuppence" or any equally twee word that is used.

@DieCryHate

My mum used crutch. Yes crutch, not crotch. Haven't heard her refer to a crutch before so perhaps she calls that a crotch.

My old head teacher used to call it a crutch (during PHSE lessons).

"A willy is specifically a penis, and the female version is fanny?"

Although its odd for MIL to call a vagina a willy I would find it beyond vulgar to call it a fanny. We use the actual names for the body parts, a penis is a penis, a vagina is a vagina.

Better than pussy, I guess.

This is the first time I've discovered that crotch is not pronounced "crutch"...
Everybody I have ever heard say it says crutch. Weird.

If you start calling it a willy and then change to penis that will be far more confusing, surely?

We've always used willy and penis interchangeably with DS. He's now almost 5 and is convinced that his penis is the name when you pull back the foreskin!

Don'tStop It's definitely not correct to say crutch...I've heard it a lot up North though.

My parents also referred to it as “willy”. Never seemed weird to me at the time!
I now use NooNoo (DD) and Winky (DS). Not sure why, just names that stuck!

Ooh now's the perfect time to share this horrendous story!

I was once in a public toiled and went in at the same time as a woman and her daughter who was about 5.

I went in one cubicle and they went in the next.

I heard the Mother say "Do you want to dirt?"

Do you want to DIRT???

That was her way of saying poo!

The DD said no but the Mother didn't believe her and kept asking 'Do you NEED TO DIRT!??"

Feck me I was

Interesting question from @FortunesFave, Mum was actually born in Liverpool, so yes, Northern, but she's not remotely Scouse. Her accent and word choices are more RP than anything. Maybe this is her one and only hold over from her origins!

@GhoulWithADragonTattoo No I won't ask her not to say it again. It doesn't bother me or anything, I just thought it was strange! I will tease her for it though