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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do I tell them what their baby name means?

196 replies

imnotacelebrityleavemehere · 08/12/2023 14:00

Name changed as very outing.

A friend has just named her newborn Mari-Jane. Do I tell her that it's a very well-known slang name for marijuana especially with the spelling Mari? I realise the pronunciation is slightly different but there will be people who pronounce it as "Mary" and she will just be known as Mary-Jane. Am I the only one who thinks she needs a heads up before registering the baby's name? I realise that most names can have quite creative nicknames and there will be plenty of people who don't know that it means marijuana but I feel like this is just asking for mockery.

Thoughts?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Mynewnameis · 08/12/2023 15:21

Also know a few Mari's in Wales and its a nice name.
Probably best keeping quiet

UrsulaBelle · 08/12/2023 15:21

I've never heard of it as a slang term either and I smoked a lot of dope in my yoof! TBF I'm 58.

tolerable · 08/12/2023 15:21

is her brother-meth?

Bournetilly · 08/12/2023 15:23

I didn’t know this. I wouldn’t tell her.

Chersfrozenface · 08/12/2023 15:25

MaryJane is in the Urban Dictionary which is pretty current, though US slang leaning
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=MaryJane

If they intend it to be approximately the Welsh pronunciation (MArry) rather than the English one (MAAHry) or pronounced like Mary, they might be best ditching the hyphen and separating the names

Mari is also a Japanese girl's name.

startquitting · 08/12/2023 15:26

Marmite27 · 08/12/2023 14:02

Mary-Jane to me is a type of shoe

Same here. Crocs. 😂 Awful name.

Mummyoflittledragon · 08/12/2023 15:26

ButterCupPie · 08/12/2023 14:19

Oh God! Am I old-fashioned? I know what Mary Jane is, and I call condoms 'johnnies'.

Show quote history

Rather. However, don’t despair, in teen speak a ‘bird’ is a girlfriend.

SABM10 · 08/12/2023 15:29

JustTalkToThem · 08/12/2023 14:08

No young people call it Mary Jane... By the time kiddo grows up it'll probably be legal anyway and no one will remember that it used to be called that.

I recently met an 18 year old girl with 'Mary-Jane' tattooed on her wrist (she's a heavy weed smoker). So don't think it has died out quite yet, although I would agree that I (in my 30s) see it as a bit old fashioned (I suspect said girl thought her tattoo was cool precisely because it's a kind of retro/vintage slang term...). Personally, while I would make the connection it wouldn't be my first or most prominent thought about it as a name. It's not my taste but overall it's quite pretty and inoffensive so I wouldn't be too concerned on your friend's DD's behalf.

ButterCupPie · 08/12/2023 15:30

Mothership4two · 08/12/2023 14:57

Didn't know that slang name and it will probably go out of my head.

I do know a John Thomas in his 70s when that name was slang for penis. Used in Lady Chatterly's Lover too. Don't think it affected his life much

I work with one, he's aged 30, and he hadn't got the faintest idea what I was talking about when I said that's a cool name!' An older colleague came to my rescue to back up my explanation.

Crushed23 · 08/12/2023 15:35

This is probably outing but I met a Kurdish couple who named their daughter N**ga (pronounced exactly the same as the N word) before emigrating to the UK. They couldn’t have known, obviously, but I would 100% give my child a nickname or legally change their name (if that’s allowed?) if I were them.

BrimfulOfMash · 08/12/2023 15:35

It’s quite American, isn’t it?

I don’t know any London teens that use it (and I do hear plenty of conversations referencing weed)

elp30 · 08/12/2023 15:36

It's a popular slang in my part of the US (far west Texas border with Mexico) because it's spelt: marijuana. Mari-Juana is the Spanish for Mary Jane.

Rick James wrote a great song called, "Mary Jane" so add that along to Cypress Hill and Alanis Morrisette.

PerspiringElizabeth · 08/12/2023 15:36

She probably already knows and doesn’t care tbh. Just like people know Molly and Charlie are drug slang.

WoollyRosebud · 08/12/2023 15:48

I would have assumed the parents or one of them was a Mari Wilson fan. Wouldn't fret about it, let them get on with it

thebestinterest · 08/12/2023 15:53

YABVU.

molly is slang for a v popular drug. Should we stray from that name too?

I have friends who’ve named their kiddos indica, a strain of cannabis… who gives a crap?

thebestinterest · 08/12/2023 15:54

Crushed23 · 08/12/2023 15:35

This is probably outing but I met a Kurdish couple who named their daughter N**ga (pronounced exactly the same as the N word) before emigrating to the UK. They couldn’t have known, obviously, but I would 100% give my child a nickname or legally change their name (if that’s allowed?) if I were them.

😂😂 that’s too funny

mathanxiety · 08/12/2023 15:56

I think you should tell them.

It's a very well known own slang term. I had an ancestor with this name and remember sniggering about it back in the 70s.

ButterCupPie · 08/12/2023 16:01

Nobody calls their boys Dick any more, I've noticed.

NonPlayerCharacter · 08/12/2023 16:02

ButterCupPie · 08/12/2023 16:01

Nobody calls their boys Dick any more, I've noticed.

That slang word is still very much in use. But it didn't stop Dick and Dom from having a great career in children's TV.

Pigsinpainauchocolat · 08/12/2023 16:06

Maybe if she gets teased a lot, it will stop her ever smoking anything. Kinda like aversion therapy.

I don't know if I'd mention it personally, if the Mum is a bit prickly. Maybe she needs to chill ... hmmmm

BreatheAndFocus · 08/12/2023 16:09

I spent a lot of time around weed when I was young and I never heard anyone call it that - nobody, not young not old - so I wouldn’t bother to tell her. It’s just a normal name and usually associated with shoes.

Fairylightgirl · 08/12/2023 16:10

never knew that. is it on urban dictionary?

Eustaciavile · 08/12/2023 16:13

This thread has made me think of all the brave Michael Hunts out there who can never use the diminutive of their name 😆😆

1983Louise · 08/12/2023 16:14

I thought you were going to say they'd name her Spliff 😳

MumblesParty · 08/12/2023 16:16

imnotacelebrityleavemehere · 08/12/2023 14:43

For those asking - I think they're pronouncing it as "Marry" which I realise isn't the same as Mary, it just seems very similar to me. I'm probably overthinking it. I'm not a smoker and don't know all the slang names for drugs but I knew that one! Also in my 30s so I don't think it's a generation thing. I do also associate it with the shoes and it's a pretty name so definitely not insulting it! I think if it was me I would just like to know all the possible nicknames (the good and the bad) before choosing a name.

To be honest I think the Marry pronunciation is their biggest mistake. The poor child will have a lifetime of telling people it’s Marry not Mary. Why do people do this to their children?

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