'Spenny'

[Gahr]

I don't know if this belongs here, as it isn't strictly inaccurate, but I hate this term so much! It actually makes me feel anger in a physical way when I see it. Even the revolting 'spendy' is better.

Do men say it to? Is part of the reaction because it sounds juvenile or faux dumb ?

Thinking about it, I should have said electricity! I'll remove myself from the pedant's corner 😁

I've never heard that but I absolutely hate the word pricey. Just say expensive!

I agree but "icky" is also extremely icky.

I have no idea whether it is said more by men or by women, that isn't relevant. Also, as we are on Pedants' Corner, you should have said 'too' not 'to'.

It's probably a clever way of lessening the impact on our psyche by giving it a cute silly name, maybe expensive sounds too serious and triggering to old traumas of parents fighting over money. So giving it a silly name minimises the blow to the budget in their mind and show it was a silly mistake but she's just a babygirl navigating this big world 😂😂

It doesn't lessen the impact on my psyche! It damn near gives me a seizure from sheer rage.

I don't live that far away from you!! 😁I also hate it when people call Spennymoor Spenny. I obviously just don't like that particular word!

I do sometimes call Darlington Darlo though, but strictly ironically. :)

Spenny is part of the local vocab round here, it's a shortened name of a town near us so it can't get my back up or ever mean anything else! So say we the people of Durham. ( Just don't pronounce it Duh-Ham)

Ooh, hard disagree, OP! ‘Spenny’ as a contraction of expensive makes total sense, whereas ‘spendy’ gives me the rage! It feels like one of those misunderstandings that becomes common usage because of its association with a related word.

What's wrong with saying its dear?

It gets on my nerves too, but I'm really glad and thankful that you posted this, because I think that a lot of these kinds of words are created/used mostly by women, and it's really helpful for people to alert me to my own unconscious bias.
Spenny, ick and leccy get on my nerves, but I'm really glad that they exist and that the language is evolving and changing, it's a sign of a dynamic and healthy language. I speak more than one language, some of them minority languages, and one of the warning signs when a language isn't doing well is when words are not chopped and changed, and no new words are created.

Nothing wrong with it but it's a pretty dated expression. I'm only 41 and can't imagine describing something as "dear" when I mean expensive (to the point it makes me inwardly cringe).

Big? Hardly. It's just a word, not difficult.

Spenny/spendy is just lazy.

I don't like 'dear' either - what is wrong with expensive, which is the word I always use? My DH says dear, and I always cringe when I hear it!

It is dated, and I wouldn't say it. However, it is still far, far better than 'spenny' which is just ludicrous and infantile.

I heard it from a friend who misheard "spenny" and assumed it was "expenny", which just made it 100% worse to me. She still uses the word to this day. Like nails on a chalkboard.

I agree. My dd uses it a lot

My sympathies. I have never actually heard someone say it, I've only seen it in writing. A lot of people on Mumsnet say it, which drives me to distraction. As for the people saying it is a sign of a healthy language, pull the other one!

Ha ha, I don't think you can post this and then complain about "spenny"? How many Pendants' Corner transgressions have you committed here? 😄 Lighthearted, obvs.

Is 'Durrum' all right?