To be so terribly, terribly cross?

[musicforsmorks]

In reality, I am asking is it being remotely unreasonable to suspect that hardly anyone uses this phrase in 'real life'?
It's all very well when one is perusing their Enid Blyton collection but I have honestly rarely come across it as a common element of social/familial dialogue (and I've been around a bit ).

Another one is 'Oh my goodness!', which, whilst having stood the test of time (unlike the poor, neglected cross), still doesn't crop up with regularity in my social circles or professional life very often.

Also interested in hearing other people's thoughts on certain phrases, and whether they are particular to MN, the written word, or just off with the fairies or whatnot.

My favourite MN regular is the did you mean to be so ruuuude?
Although, whilst frequently tempted, I have not yet had the pleasure of uttering it with any true gravitas in real life :(

I use oh my goodness and for goodness sake , also flip, flaming , very/really cross . and "in the name of good fortune". Now and then the odd F bomb will appear but it really shocked a woman I used to work with when I used it, she only heard me say it once in 20 years. As for the "C" word I can't abide it being used abusively as I find it demeaning and crude .

My dc (teens and older) use "Oh my goodness" and "gosh".
Ds has also been known to call something a "damn shame" and call "chocks away". (Biggles enthusiast).

"My days" - I only ever hear that on TV.

I work in a school, I'll often tell my students that I'm a bit cross then walk into my office and tell my colleagues I'm fucking raging! I love vexed too - that's a good way of speaking to a kid who is pissed off and being able to recognise how they're feeling.

My favourite to buy me time to collect my thoughts before reacting to a situation though is, 'wow' delivered entirely straightfaced. The long pause afterwards gets them acting very shifty and usually invokes an apology/confession pretty quickly!

So yeah, they're all pretty much synonyms for those of us who can't get away with swearing at work

@EarringsandLipstick

Nobody uses it in real life

I love your certainty! 'Cross' is a word used all the time where I live.

You've created connotations with the word that wouldn't be true here, at least.

You mean it might be connected to one's neighbourhood?

I can understand, obviously, dialects differing but not so much....expressions. I'm fascinated now.

Perhaps it is more connected to use within families and with young children? Swear words were inhibited in my childhood home (to a reasonable extent) but sadly were never replaced by anything equally imaginative!
I am quite fond of 'oh bugger'.

Since DS started learning to talk I've found myself saying 'for gosh sakes'

I’m never terribly, terribly cross, but I do get rather cross quite often! I overheard DD telling one of her brothers that he was beastly them other day…🤣

I know I use 'oh my goodness' as my echo (3 year old) does.

Anyone that used to read Smash Hits in the 80s might remember 'Corky O'Rourkey' as an excellent, non swearing exclamation.

@ChickenStripper

"My days" - I only ever hear that on TV.

Omg, my DP says this too! He also has a weird thing about calling someone 'a caution'. I have no idea what that means exactly, perhaps 'naughty'?

Has anyone else heard of describing someone as a 'caution'?
Please tell me he's bonkers!

I use goodness, gosh and terribly a fair amount but work in an environment where swearing is huge no and I'm naturally a swearer. DS says he's terribly terribly cross, but he's 3 and loves the magic faraway tree

My 3 year old exclaiming oh my goodness gracious me to the baby when he's found him making a mess is my favourite. Or when something exciting happens. Oh my goodness gracious me is generally associated with something unexpected in our house and needs an over the top delivery at a very slow pace to make sure it slows the rage you're feeling.

I clicked because the title made me smile and wonder what scale of anger 'terribly, terribly cross' might be: someone skipped in front of you at the supermarket queue or your husband ran off with your best friend's 21 year old daughter.

I say 'oh my goodness' quite a lot but I'd have thought that was just a commonly used phrase.

'Ghastly' is fabulous although I'd only be able to use it if I was indulging my inner 1930s school mistress.

'Bit of a rum do' needs to make a comeback!

I realise that I am never cross. I'm even really fucking angry or quite calm. 0 to 60 as my Mum used to say. But rarely just cross.DH gets cross and stays cross for about 20 mins where as I flare up then calmed down in about 3. I've told myself to say oh gosh rather than oh god because my MIL gets very offended by use of God. She would prefer fuck.

I Hate the phase ‘oh my god’ so will use ‘oh my gosh/goodness’ a lot.

Crumbs is my new favourite. And Yikes.

Still can’t bring myself to say the sentence ‘no’.

Love love love beastly! But used with irony, or perhaps a touch of humour. It's very jolly hockey sticks, but a good one nonetheless.

Heard "my days" loads in London- never in Scotland.

I hope someone refers to their offspring as 'that beastly child!'

@Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov

My 3 year old exclaiming oh my goodness gracious me to the baby when he's found him making a mess is my favourite. Or when something exciting happens. Oh my goodness gracious me is generally associated with something unexpected in our house and needs an over the top delivery at a very slow pace to make sure it slows the rage you're feeling.

That's cute, it would be a shame if he grew out of it!

@MostIneptThatEverStepped

Anyone that used to read Smash Hits in the 80s might remember 'Corky O'Rourkey' as an excellent, non swearing exclamation.

I only remember crikey on a bikey!

I've been saying crumbs and crikey recently for some fucking unknown reason, been flirting with golly but haven't found an appropriate time to deploy it

I use blimey, goodness sake, and poorly (mid-40s), usually with DD in earshot, but when she's not around I use ruder words. (I'm sure DD cusses with her friends though) My mum never swore in the rudest sense, said bloody on occasion but she uses a lot of the aforementioned words. I think cross needs a renaissance because I usually someonehas pissed me off

I'm terribly terribly cross with alarming regularity. What's wrong with it🧐?

Also horrid 👍

I like cross. It’s milder than angry. But it’s stronger than annoyed. It does serve a linguistic purpose I think! I also say oh my goodness even though I’m not religious and do also say ‘God’.