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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

"It all comes out in the wash"

105 replies

christmastreewithhairyfairy · 05/05/2023 09:11

What does this phrase mean to you?

I've been saying it for decades but just googled it and if the internet is correct I've been using it wrong! So I wanted to canvas the wise vipers of mn

OP posts:
Moltenpink · 05/05/2023 09:13

I thought it referred to things that were being covered up, eg an affair would eventually be discovered over time

KnickerlessParsons · 05/05/2023 09:13

I've always thought it means "everything will be alright in the end"

User85398653 · 05/05/2023 09:13

Everything will be clear in the end

Iwantmyoldnameback · 05/05/2023 09:14

KnickerlessParsons · 05/05/2023 09:13

I've always thought it means "everything will be alright in the end"

Me too.

Nimbostratus100 · 05/05/2023 09:14

I think it means major dramas seem much less of a big deal over time, like getting rasberry juice on a white shirt, and thinking the shirt is ruined, but finding it is still usable after a few washes

BusterGonad · 05/05/2023 09:14

Give it time and it'll be okay?

Mutabiliss · 05/05/2023 09:15

Everything will be found out in the end, you can't cover things up/lie forever.

Zola1 · 05/05/2023 09:15

I thought it meant sort of, the truth will out.

LiliLil · 05/05/2023 09:15

It will all be ok given time.

BonnieGlasses · 05/05/2023 09:16

I'd use it to mean "everything will be ok in the end".

ZeroFuchsGiven · 05/05/2023 09:16

The truth will come out.

Original poster
christmastreewithhairyfairy · 05/05/2023 09:16

KnickerlessParsons · 05/05/2023 09:13

I've always thought it means "everything will be alright in the end"

So I've been using it to mean similar but more specifically "things will balance out over time"

Usually directly at DCs when they are arguing about who got more sweets/bigger presents

OP posts:
ZeroFuchsGiven · 05/05/2023 09:16

Now im wondering if I have been using it wrong

slamfightbrightlight · 05/05/2023 09:17

It will sort itself out in the end.

wildlifeintegration · 05/05/2023 09:17

I thought ot was linked to airing your dirty laundry, as in everyone will soon see your secrets when you get them out of the wash and put them on the line.

I think I use it wrong too then.

foulksmills · 05/05/2023 09:17

Wow, I've definitely been using it with something more sinister afoot.

JulieHoney · 05/05/2023 09:18

It will be fine, just give it time. Things will even out eventually.

It dates back to the 1600s, Cervantes said it in Don Quixote.

Original poster
christmastreewithhairyfairy · 05/05/2023 09:18

ZeroFuchsGiven · 05/05/2023 09:16

The truth will come out.

And this is what the Internet said.

I've recently said it to someone at work and it now worried it sounds like I was threatening them when it was meant to be reassuring, doh

OP posts:
DoYouRememberTheInnMiranda · 05/05/2023 09:18

I use it like you OP, so if a friend and I are going for coffee, and we cant remember whose turn it is to pay, "don't worry, it all comes out in the wash" i.e. it'll even itself out over time.

Conkersinautumn · 05/05/2023 09:18

In my family it means that everything will come to light in the end.

LookItsMeAgain · 05/05/2023 09:19

Moltenpink · 05/05/2023 09:13

I thought it referred to things that were being covered up, eg an affair would eventually be discovered over time

This is how I interpret that saying.

All of the dirty secrets will come out in the wash...

Be that from checking the pockets for phone numbers on scraps of paper before putting the clothes in the machine or the lipstick on the collar (just to continue the analogy) 😉😆

senua · 05/05/2023 09:19

christmastreewithhairyfairy · 05/05/2023 09:16

So I've been using it to mean similar but more specifically "things will balance out over time"

Usually directly at DCs when they are arguing about who got more sweets/bigger presents

Show quote history

Nah. That's "swings and roundabouts".

All comes out in the wash = the truth will out.

Original poster
christmastreewithhairyfairy · 05/05/2023 09:19

DoYouRememberTheInnMiranda · 05/05/2023 09:18

I use it like you OP, so if a friend and I are going for coffee, and we cant remember whose turn it is to pay, "don't worry, it all comes out in the wash" i.e. it'll even itself out over time.

Phew, I was starting to think I'd made it up!

OP posts:
Original poster
christmastreewithhairyfairy · 05/05/2023 09:20

Sounds like there a few meanings... I'd better stop saying it, just to be safe 😉

OP posts:
wildlifeintegration · 05/05/2023 09:20

DoYouRememberTheInnMiranda · 05/05/2023 09:18

I use it like you OP, so if a friend and I are going for coffee, and we cant remember whose turn it is to pay, "don't worry, it all comes out in the wash" i.e. it'll even itself out over time.

oh dear, if ypu said that to me in this context I'd assume you were implying I take the piss and everyone will see eventually