AIBU to find references to 'a hobby' on Mumsnet odd?

[Jane143]

Why is it whenever a hobby is mentioned it’s always referred to as ‘a hobby’
why the secrecy or it a Mumsnet rule?
am I being unreasonable to find it a bit odd?

In which case, I'd be thinking you enjoy re-enacting scenes from Hot Fuzz 🤔

Yes! When I started, someone recommended a boules supplier and mentioned cost and it had to be gently pointed out to them by someone else listening, that not everyone has the same resources. I played with a donated set for years.

It's usually code for "my husband is a twat" (as in my DH spends all his time and money on.. / is having an affair with someone at..)

It's weird how many threads there are about MNers being secretive about hobbies.

Much weirder than the actual secrecy about hobbies (which I haven't ever particularly noticed).
There are so many of them that I'm starting to suspect some sort of Eastern European bot farm promoting unrest about MNers' hobby secretiveness.

Morris dancing
Archery
Hill walking
Cycling
Football
Golf
Canoeing/Kayaking
Orienteering
Amateur Dramatics
Local History
Parish Council

Oh I'm getting tired here, what else?

Mentioning the exact hobby would likely derail the post with interested hobby enthusiasts sharing training, event, race notes etc.

Better for it to be derailed with people banging on about what the hobby might be and why won’t you tell us.

If you think you can be identified by saying your husband plays golf, you probably shouldn’t have also told us you live in a rural Scottish village, your child had a birthday party last week, your mum lives 2 doors down and you’re currently in a dispute with your neighbours about the fence. One little piece of information by itself is never a problem, so why should people be so coy when mentioning a hobby?

All these "doing my hobby"/ person A, person B/ my sibling/ referring to a partner as they threads annoy the crap out of me. No OP, no one is interested enough in your life to forensically work out that because because you have a male partner that cycles with his brother you must be Jan from No 45

It’s always cycling or golf if it is was the husband does!

I suppose they want replies to focus on whether it's fair they're left with 3 DC 3 nights a week and every Sunday morning, rather than get sidetracked into whether going to the gym is good for health and should be encouraged, or larping as the king of Wessex is an excuse to leer at buxom wenches, so LTB.

I always think ‘swingers’

At least that would be more interesting 😂

😂😂😂The next time I go out into my wilderness of a garden to tackle the weeds I will think of myself as a guerilla gardener, sneaking up on the bindweed to unleash the deadly force of my secateurs. What a hobby!

This.

Sometimes you do share information because you are answering information
"Does anyone know X about Band 2 admin jobs for NHS?"
"Which areas of Leeds are good to live if..."
"I have both dd and ds" (when replying to those threads about dds being like X and dss like Y)
etc. etc.
None of which are particularly outing, and you've helped someone by saying that information. But when the detail doesn't matter, it just makes sense not to add in more information for those sad stalkers who track your posts.

Working in NHS admin and possibly moving to Leeds with a ds and a dd might make someone suspect they might know you. Start mentioning that you do bell ringing and your dh is a rugby referee and that confirms to someone it has to be you. The hobby alone doesn't, but the layers do.
So, if it isn't relevant to the question they are asking or the comment they are making, you'd be a bit daft to give too much information.

It's almost always a hobby that takes at least a half day so I regard it as bird watching or sketching and painting. I never associate a hobby in Mumsnet context with a sport. That's just me. However I assume it may be a sport, it's just not the first thing that comes to my mind.

It always makes me laugh tbh - because I always think cycling or golf when it's the Dh.
God knows how long ago, but I remember a mysterious 'hobby' thread where the OP eventually, after insistent enquiry from about 500 posters, admitted the hobby was rolling down hills in those massive inflatable "hamster" ball things. Now that is outing 😂

I'm off to NC now - because I've posted tons about my divorce plus god knows what else on here - yikes!

Agree it’s odd

no one in RL talks about hobbies

They do.

Combinations of hobbies might be outing - burlesque Morris dancing anyone? 😀

It's the way it's phrased.
On Mumsnet people write things like "Saturday is very busy because the kids have their hobbies".
In real life people would say "Saturday is busy because we take the kids to football practice".

Whenever someone reveals an “outing” hobby, it’s never anything remotely interesting or niche.

Hobby wankers.

I don't find it odd or a problem, assuming the details of the hobby don't have direct bearing on the question. If someone's trying to describe how she and her partner divide up shared household/childcare responsibilities, I don't need to know whether the "hobby" he does three nights a week and every Sunday is painting watercolours or playing water polo or eating watermelons competitively - just as it's fine to say "we both work full time" without specifying that she's a senior fintech software developer and her spouse is a secondary school history teacher. What we need to know is how much time each spends on obligations versus leisure activites. "Hobby" conveys that, just as "job" does.

Do you take all flippant remarks this seriously or is it only when when pétanque is mentioned?

Haha, I’m really not dissing pétanque; I just love the idea of someone claiming to play a sport ‘at a high level’ when reaching the highest level the UK would entail being the best out of say, the only three people in the entire country who ever play it, none of whom are actually good.