Is the word 'bum' rude?

[Fedupnanny]

I was wiping my little girl charge after she had used the toilet and I said this...
"Please bend over DC as I need to wipe your bum"

Was immediately told off by the BM who was in the next room working, she said "don't say bum, you need to say bottom, I will not have them learning the word bum at this age"

I felt this was a little ridiculous and can't get it out of my head. What do the rest of you think? She is obviously within her rights to tell me what I can and cant say to her children but I feel this is a little OTT and never thought bum was a rude word!

Just remembered. My 4 year old DS once shouted loudly in soft play "It's OK. I just landed on my buttocks."

It's the way people are brought up - I would never use 'pardon' or 'trump' as they make me cringe but my child makes those who do cringe by saying "sorry, what?" or "bum". It's a nice two-way cringe fest. I'm not too bothered, my child's fairly chameleon - she knows not to use "toilet" in this house but that quite a few people won't understand "loo" at school.

Bum is slightly 'common' I think.

what's wrong with toilet?

being from continental europe i use bathroom as it's a translation of what i would use... but no issue with toilet... wouldn't use loo personally...

and with my nearly 3yo i use bottom

I can't stand bum esp from 2/3yr bellowing at top of voice 'wipe my
Buuuuuuuuuuum'

It's bottom

I also hate ta

is there a nice word for fart? Don't like botty burp or pop off

Bm - boss mum tho normally mb is mum boss tho did love bm as bum mum

And yes was dc about when mb called db a 'fc'

blondes i have no issue with fart but we taught the 3yo to say parp

I must be frightfully common

Hmm I think bum is slang , bottom is more appropriate. I try not to use any slang when I'm working.

Bottom/bum interchangeable for me and wouldn't bat an eyelid at either. Though during the wild giggling rudeness stages I find shrieks of BUM! BUUUMMMMM! BUMBUMBUM! somehow cuter and funnier than bottom.

My 3yo says 'The donkey's here' when she hears a fart (usually her own, I hasten to add). No idea where that came from :)

Your 3yo is a genius nomdemere - I love that and will start using it as soon as required!

Toilet/loo and pardon/what are key class discriminators in the English language.

Generally middle class people will think toilet is polite and loo is dreadful while upper class would think lavatory is polite, loo is OK and toilet is worse than bog. Similarly upper class would think pardon is cringey and prefer what, middle class would think what is rude and prefer pardon.

There are numerous words like this, for example sitting room/lounge, napkin/serviette or sofa/settee. Evidence of this thread suggests that fart/trump or parp may be another and possibly bum/botty.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

BTW I am not remotely upper class but my mother learnt English while au pairing for people who were v posh and sent me to Prep school without knowing this was a posh thing to do either. Main effect was as a child I got into loads of conflicts with other children's parents correcting my 'what' to 'pardon' and then me correcting them back! And now when my MIL says serviette I have to grind my teeth not to shout 'it's not a serviette, it's paper napkin!'

Ha! Middle class for me then...

Although I HATE serviette and settee

From your link I am a good mix of U and non-U

Thanks from a foreigner's heart!

Toilet/loo and pardon/what are key class discriminators in the English language.

I say 'loo' and 'sorry?' What does that make me?

(No insulting replies, please! )

Dunno - I generally say a mixture of what ever pops into my head. But never ever serviette

serviette is an abomination!
I have a friend who says serviette and settee [cringe]

I don't know why, but I can't bear 'lounge', to describe a living room.

nomdemere

My DD says "The mole is at the checkout" when she needs a poo

Farts are whizz-pops in our house Can you tell DH and I were Roald Dahl fans?! I know some people would cringe at it, but to us it's better than fart or trump!

Pmsl at the mole is at the checkout

Sending a sausage to the seaside is one my friends dh says

I say loo or toilet sofa and living room

this minefield only exists on MN, I reckon.

I say loo, pardon (or 'say again' or 'sorry' but never 'what', which, depending on how you say it, is either rude or gormless, don't care what Nancy Mitford or Julian Fellowes think), living or front room, napkin and sofa. Oh, and parp for fart. Fart is such an ugly word, parp seems jollier.

no living room/lounge here - we say sitting room.

Now this thread is getting to be fun...

It's usually 'fart' in this house although locally (E Anglia) 'Trumpen' loike a good un' means 'having a good fart'.

Isn't that 'the mole is at the checkout' one from French?

Bum is fine IMO. Botty, bot or bot bot sound ridiculous and make me cringe.

I call a fart a fart, and I call a bum a bum.

I don't see bum as a rude word, though I know my parents used to. There are far worse words out there, and bum does just trip nicely off the tongue.

When my children were babies and needed their nappies changing I frequently said "let me change your bum bum then" as I have no issue with it at all.