what's this PO stuff all about? I have just read some really vile stuff on here....

[Portofino]

Women presumably who don't have a certain sense of humour, or don't agree with certain (long standing) posters being described as beige admin workers who nag their ugly husbands, who were friendless at school, wear cheap clothes, have no fun in their sad little joyless lives etc etc Literally paragraphs and paragraphs of nastiness.

This is some of the most vile and misogynistic stuff I have ever read on MN from other women. These kind of comments normally come from trolls and MRA invasions. Is this really what MN has become? Does everyone think that this sort of shit should stand? What happened to the fucking sisterhood?

I am astounded to be quite honest.

I posted at the start of Hullys first thread after the sppons one. I didn't see the spoons one.

From hullys OP I got the impression that the spoon one was deleted but then MNHQ came and said it wasn't and they just emailed her about it. So it wasn't even as 'being silenced' as was made out although initially I thought it seemed excessive to delete it, but in fact it wasn't.

Then I went out for the day and came back to a million posts so didn't read any more.

PO just makes me think of Victor Meldrew. Males of a certain age, that think everything is wrong.

I have always understood PO to be shorthand for Po-faced, which a couple of members of my family have form for. The sort of person who when offered a choice between cream or custard will whine on and on about how both are bad for you and no one needs a pudding and then they huff on about how long we're sitting at the table whilst eating puddings that are unnecessary. I had no idea about the professionally offended notion. Although I spend huge lots of time not being on MN because of my bloody life.

Yes po-faced/cat's bum mouth gin. I know a few of those too. Whatever you do they know where you could have got it cheaper/done it better/done it differently.

Bit like Harry Enfield's 'Mr You Don't Want To Do it Like That'.

The PO thing is ever so slightly starting to get on my wick.

The true meaning has now been lost and instead is being used as an insult by hordes of dull, imaginative hangers on who have nothing funny to offer of their own.

Absolutely Sparkling, I'd forgotten about catsbumming and that's what we used to say, isn't it? Do we still say catsbum?

I prefer 'sucking lemons' gin.

Oh that's good Cabbages POIMO or POMPO!

I like that.

Or even, in response to someone calling out PO -PoInYourOpinion POYO.

Sorry huge X post there.

Sod arse and bugger, I meant unimaginative

Sucking a lemon. I have an admin assistant who epitomises the sucking a lemon face Not sure she realises she does it but you know exactly when she doesn't approve of you. I'm her boss. She doesn't approve of me. A lot. It always makes me smile

CB
SAL
POIMO
POIYO
PUIMO
PUIYO

yep MN needs to have a dictionary

I haven't read a lot of what's mentioned on here, but I will say as a generalisation that I find any type of humour which is aimed at lowering other people or relies on taking the mickey out of others juvenile, unfunny and characteristic of people who are not that happy with their own existence/ relatively emotionally unevolved. That's true in real life and also on here, and it's a firm if passive agressive bullying to then turn round and accuse people who don't like it if being humourless.

It's a well recognised method if bullying/ manipulation particularly common among teenage girls.

There are also overly sensitive people but I don't see how attacking them helps, noone knows why they are sensitive re that particular thing. It would be better to point out to them gently why they may not hold the same view as most others, but hey it's easy to stick the boot in from behind a screen, especially when you think you are doing it in such a clever way and others will stand by and egg you on.

I've seen that happen in here, not on the threads mentioned or by the posters mentioned, but as a general statement.

( forgot about the bathball story!!)

I believe it was me who introduced po to mn originally.

I have always and only used it in the po-faced sense, the attitude that pag describes below.

it has also come to mean prof offended, but that was not it's original use on here.

to me, its people that dont like other people having a laugh about spoons/ whatever because it doesn't float their boat, not because it's bullying or harmful or cliquey, they just dont like it.

that is the only sense in which I use it.

See hilly - po is a different thing to PO. People should be allowed to have friendship groups, in jokes etc. as long as what I described above isn't happening.

Best pic I could find to sum up sucking lemons/po faced Here

What NoelHeadbands said just there, and FWIW the prof offended meaning came before po faced - hence my confusion.

I agree there's nothing wrong in using Po to describe someone who is offended by a thread about Spoons.

But I think it would be good for us all to point out to posters who use the word in other, more general and probably goady ways, that it isn't on for them to do that.

yes, maybe we could have po and PO

can you imagine?

I think Rhondajean called it right when she said There is a particular form of passive agressive behaviour which involves laughing at the expense of others then accusing them of being humourless when called on it...

I read the comments and it basically reminded me of school nastiness masking insecurity.

Oh Sparkling that is my admin assistant almost exactly!

thats nothing to do with po tho

Yeah PO (professionally offended) has been used on MN for yonks. Way before po-faced and PO was being thrown around as an insult for ages too.

I never see PO things, I dont tend to go on those threads, they are a bit glum for me