Am I a laughing stock?

[CovidHeadache]

I jokingly call my house “surname towers” so for example if my surname was Jackson, my house would be called Jackson Towers. I’ve called it this for years, it’s very very lighthearted as I’m sure everyone knows. We host a lot of social events and I use the name in invites for example “birthday party, Jackson towers”, “Strictly finale party, Jackson towers” etc
In Christmas/birthday cards “love from A, L and all at Jackson towers”

All my friends and family know I call the house this and some call it this name too either in replies or just in general.

Anyway, last night I’d popped to my mums and my sister was there, we were talking about taking the kids to a Halloween event tonight and I said “why don’t you bring them back to the towers afterward and we can have a little party?”

My sister then said “I’m sorry but can we stop with this towers bullshit, it’s so cringy”. I said “It’s a joke! And you’ve never complained before!” My mum then said “not to your face maybe”. They both started laughing and my sister then said “no I’m sorry, someone needs to say something, people have been ripping the piss out of you for years for it, just give it a rest now”.

so to cut a long story short, turns out almost my entire family have been slagging me off for it for years and my sister hinted that my friends have too.

When I got home I rang my friend and asked her if the towers name annoys her and she said “no course not” so I asked if she knew if it annoyed anyone else to which she hesitated and then said “not annoy as such”. She wouldn’t elaborate further.

Now I’m pretty thick skinned and can mostly laugh it off if I’ve been a dick but this time I’m a bit upset, I keep trying to tell myself I’m not bothered but I can’t stop thinking about it. Have I been a laughing stock for years? If so AIBU to think someone might have mentioned it before now?

We just call our house ‘Our House’.
It is large, Victorian and detached but when we bought it one of our friends started calling it ‘TrickyTowers’, accompanied by a sneer.

Yeah sorry but I would have been taking the piss out of you too. It sounds ridiculous.

I wouldn't worry about it, just stop using the term. Stock words and phrases of that nature become hackneyed over time, it has probably had its day, no more than that.

Leave it behind and move on, no harm done, nobody has died. Your home is still your castle to you.

There's a lady near us has recently moved into a small end terraced cottage and has put up a sign saying along the lines of "Apple Gate farm", she's even set up a little honestly box shop selling pumpkins she's bought from the supermarket.

I think it’s a bit cringey but I would laugh it off and just stop using it. If people are happy to keep coming to your events, they obviously like you and enjoy coming and rather than mocking you, they’ve probs just thought it’s a bit irritating but it hasn’t overly changed their opinion of you. It’ll be ok!

actually I feel bad for @CovidHeadache

at worst they’ve carried a pun on for too long.

it’s irrelevant if it’s pretentious or wankey or cringe.

what’s relevant is her friends and family have been ripping the piss out of her behind her back for a considerable length of time and instead of having the balls to tell her to her face ages ago they’ve continued to abuse her hospitality whilst slagging off the invites for that hospitality.

now that’s really wankey

You sound full of joy!

My dad sometimes says "meet you back at the ranch " to refer to his house. He lives on a 1990s housing estate.

Not bothered about being outed OP are you?!

Previous owners did this to our house and did the proper change of address process, so its xxxx House.

It’s bloody stupid and I never use it, but it obviously ends up on the majority of the post we get.

I know someone who calls her semi “street name” Manor and someone else who calls her 1 bedroom extension The West Wing. I avoid them both like the plague!

I completely agree.

Their behaviour is dreadful.

They probably are laughing but like you said, it's a joke, jokes are supposed to make people laugh.

turns out almost my entire family have been slagging me off for it for years and my sister hinted that my friends have too.

You should be more concerned about what the broader picture re what this says about your family and friends rather than than than this one particular issue

I call our 3 bed semi "chez surname" all the time. It's funny! Of course I don't mean it seriously!! Everyone on here going "it's cringe" needs to develop a sense of humour, pathetic.

OP your sister was being mean, sorry. Probably just jealous cause she has no chat.

It is a bit cringe, but so what? My attempts to coax DH out of similar have fallen on deaf ears. Our house has a name instead of a number (which is a bit wanky, but we didn't name it iykwim). When organising meet-ups with friends, DH usually asks them to arrange it with me, using various combinations of "Vinvertebrate, the Home Secretary, right honorable member for Mandalay". He's forrin so I think people are more forgiving, but I still had a word (which he completely ignored!)

Even the bloody cat doesn't escape! He requests cat food for "His Lordship Baron Tiddles of Mandalay" and I wish the supermarket floor would swallow me up.

Is it nicer/larger than friends & family?

I know a woman who does this - who I always thought had ripped it off Mumsnet, ‘Mumsnet Towers’ - not very original. She’s nice enough but does like to feel a bit superior I think. Her home is nicer than almost everyone else’s without being overly grand so it doesn’t land too well.

He sounds great! 😂

Just stop it now.

I think it depends how often you refer to your home as 'surname towers'

If it is occasional, then they are being a bit mean spirited, but if it is often, yeah a bit cringeworthy and not terribly original.

But you shouldn't care what they think, however, the fact it has upset you OP, indicates you should probably drop it.

Whenever anyone adopts any sort of catch phrase, it gives people ammunition to laugh at them.
You must have had teachers who were known for always saying a particular thing they thought was witty/clever, over and over, and everyone said it behind their back impersonating them? This is obviously what's going on here. I'd say any charm the expression may have had for others has worn off from over use.
Some people like your sister are now actively irritated/embarrassed for you if others are laughing. If you don't mind that, carry on. If you do, stop.

I don’t think it’s that people didn’t realise it was a joke - I mean, obviously it’s a joke. It’s the sort of joke that wears thin with constant repetition though. As @ItWasOnAStarrrryNightsaid - the cringe factor comes from making it into ‘a thing’.

😂😂😂 Maybe this is more tiresome if you have to live with it constantly, but I really chuckled at it. Your DH is clearly joking though and I think people would have to be very po-faced not to laugh.

Agree. Would have found it funny and cute at first but after a while it comes across as quite cringe and a lil obnoxious.

Fine for Halloween,
but for everyday use I would go with 'Chateau de Jackson'

My WiFi name is "CastleLestrange"

But I would never refer to my house as Castle Lestrange in normal conversation 😂

Your sister is right, it's wanky and I would laugh at you for it. Especially if you really have put it on invites and refer to "the towers" it stops being a joke and people start to think your trying to make it something it's not.