My friend, let’s call him George

[HampdenRadius]

My friend, let’s call him George, never calls anyone he is talking about by their real name. Instead he’ll say, my friend, let’s call her Elaine, for example.

AIBU to be very irritated by this.

Yes, definitely. I have a friend, let's call her Elaine, gets really upset when our mutual friend, let's call her Susan, bitches about our mutual friend, let's call her Freda. My neighbour, let's call her Brenda, says they're all mad. AIBU?

YA both BVU. Your friend, let's call him George, may have a terrifically unusual hobby, think cycling, or an inordinate amount of eyes, think two, and if he were to write anything on a website, think Mumsnet, the entire world would know who he is and chaos would ensue.