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Fetus nicknames - am I just getting old?


Granny_Weatherwax
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We had "development names" for both our pregnancies that went past the first couple of weeks. I think it came from DH's software engineering background, where it is common for a project to have a name that is used in-house separate from the name that marketing will actually release it under. One of my co-workers actually thought we planned to name the baby the development name (For DD, it was "Cuddles") and was very relieved to discover that the name on the birth certificate was something totally different, and much more normal :). 

 

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6 minutes ago, The Accidental Coach said:

What do you think of the trend to call a fetus a crotch goblin? I know two separate couples (who do not know each other) who are referring to their growing baby by this term. I know it's supposed to be funny but it strikes me as odd. Am I just old or has my sense of humor aged like an 80's hard rock ballad (stuck in time)?

That is gross.  So I will be old right there with you.  

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8 hours ago, The Accidental Coach said:

What do you think of the trend to call a fetus a crotch goblin? I know two separate couples (who do not know each other) who are referring to their growing baby by this term. I know it's supposed to be funny but it strikes me as odd. Am I just old or has my sense of humor aged like an 80's hard rock ballad (stuck in time)?

This term? Catchy like an ear worm, but I wish it wasn't. 

Nicknames for unborn babies--not weird; maybe quirky. 

I have heard of toddlers/preschoolers referred to as hemorrhoids, and that struck me as funny the first time I heard it because I heard it while my oldest was in the stage where I couldn't back up or move at all without having his head bumping my backside. But I am not really having the same kind of "Aha" moment about this particular nickname, even though I carried my firstborn so low during the last month that I wondered if he would stick out his hand and wave hello.

ETA: Just clarifying that I didn't call my kids hemorrhoids. I just had an "Aha" moment when I heard that term due to the stage my son was at. It was blazingly obvious, in an amusing way, where the term came from. 

Edited by kbutton
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I've known people who called theirs things like parasite, which I don't find crude at all. I think it's sort of amusing. I did feel that way in pregnancy a lot.

This though... Um... No? Like, I'm not prudish (quite the opposite) and I don't mind slightly dark jokes about having kids (we were gifted and totally used a onesie that said "Dingo Bait" for example)... this is just sort of icky.

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That sounds gross.  I think it's the crotch part, since goblin would be kind of cute.  We did have nicknames for our pre-borns - older was Figment (like the character at Epcot, because family had speculated about when we'd have kids and we had joked about the Figment of their imagination).  Younger was Fergus, because it had a similar sound and was named after a Thomas the Train character (older was 3 and loved those trains when I was pregnant).  

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34 minutes ago, Farrar said:

I've known people who called theirs things like parasite, which I don't find crude at all. I think it's sort of amusing. I did feel that way in pregnancy a lot.

This though... Um... No? Like, I'm not prudish (quite the opposite) and I don't mind slightly dark jokes about having kids (we were gifted and totally used a onesie that said "Dingo Bait" for example)... this is just sort of icky.

TBH, minor children, pets, elderly parents, etc. are all a bit like a 'parasite' but it's not funny to call them that. Has the English language of upteen thousand words not got an existing term that is funny and yet not completely horrible at the same time? Tape worms are parasites, but children are NOT.

Edited by wintermom
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I dislike the term, but I think some people are being misled by the use of “nickname”.  

It isn’t an individual nickname, it’s a generic term. It’s also not fetus specific.  All of your ovary fruits (or the fruits of others’ ovaries) can be crotch goblins forever. You can be a crotch goblin! You’re welcome.

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Not a fan. I thought this post would be about calling the baby by some affectionate name, which I have certainly heard of. But eww, no on this one. I’m also glad I heard it here so I’m not stunned if it turns up IRL. 

I *have* known people to saddle their born child with an ugly nickname. Don't really understand that either. 

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I don't really care how other people refer to their fetus.  Both my feti had nicknames in utero (monkey & chickpea).  But I didn't really share those with anyone. DH and I used them.  So I can see how/why social media has people over sharing in terms like this.  I can see how some couples might find that funny, but I would be a bit surprised if people used that in public settings.  Know your audience.  

 I mean people have gender reveal parties which I find completely bizarre and unless I had a pretty intimate relationship with someone, I would likely decline any invite to one.  Anyway, all sorts of pregnancy wackiness abounds.  LOL.  

Edited by FuzzyCatz
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Interesting I haven't actually heard anyone call an unborn baby a crotch goblin.  When I have heard it it's always been an actual child behaving badly.  Like moms venting online: the little crotch goblin figured out how to open the cabinet and threw things &$@* everywhere.

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I've heard it plenty of times, but always as a negative term for other people's  existing children (who are behaving badly). 

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

I've known people who called theirs things like parasite, which I don't find crude at all. I think it's sort of amusing. I did feel that way in pregnancy a lot.

This though... Um... No? Like, I'm not prudish (quite the opposite) and I don't mind slightly dark jokes about having kids (we were gifted and totally used a onesie that said "Dingo Bait" for example)... this is just sort of icky.

You think Dingo Bait on a onesie is better than saying parasite or crotch goblin? I don't get that at all. I enjoy a lot of dark humor, but that was an actual, tragic death of a baby. A baby whose mom and siblings are still alive. That's considerably more icky to me than a crude nickname. 

 

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I think I may have used parasite while I was pregnant, but never in isolation. More like, when a close friend asked how I was doing and the answer was "not great, but not terrible," I might say something like "looking forward to when this sweet little parasite is in my arms." I may have just thought that and not said it, but either way, it wouldn't have been broadcast far and wide. Something said to a close friend who knows you is very different to putting it out on Facebook or just chatting with aquaintences, in my mind. If certain people used "crotch goblin" directly to me when their kids were acting up, I'd giggle. If someone used it in my preference without knowing me and knowing that I love their kids, I'd probably lose a little respect for them.

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Crude and distasteful, and also sadly dehumanizing. And... inaccurate.

The crotch is outside of the body, and is the part between the legs where they join the torso. A fetus (unborn offspring) develops in the mother's womb, which is inside the body in the lower abdomen. The only time the offspring is at the crotch area is very briefly during birth, not during pregnancy.

ETA
And I abhor supposed "funny terms" that are really slams. There were several emotionally abusive men (now ex- s) married to extended family members who used to use offensive terms like that with a cocky smile, pause, and then say "just kidding" -- so getting to be nasty but "excusing" it as "humor" so that everyone else would let it pass in the uncomfortable moment, but also let it pass partly out of fear of being told "you don't have a sense of humor".

I just don't see that as a healthy way to think of a beginning relationship, by dehumanizing a child and thinking of them as a burden or as something nasty before they even arrive. 😢

Edited by Lori D.
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1 hour ago, katilac said:

You think Dingo Bait on a onesie is better than saying parasite or crotch goblin? I don't get that at all. I enjoy a lot of dark humor, but that was an actual, tragic death of a baby. A baby whose mom and siblings are still alive. That's considerably more icky to me than a crude nickname. 

Yeah, I agree. What kind of sick company even makes a onesie like that? "Hey, this poor family experienced a terrible tragedy...let's make money off of it!" Yuck.

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4 hours ago, ashfern said:

It's actually an offensive term used by the more militant childless by choice people. The ones who hate kids. I've known about it for decades now, so nothing new.

Yeah that's where I've seen it used. It's a pretty common term in those communities, along with 'breeders' for parents and 'mombies' mom+zombie for mothers. 

Edited by LMD
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11 hours ago, wintermom said:

TBH, minor children, pets, elderly parents, etc. are all a bit like a 'parasite' but it's not funny to call them that. Has the English language of upteen thousand words not got an existing term that is funny and yet not completely horrible at the same time? Tape worms are parasites, but children are NOT.

Meh. I’m not offended by it. Honestly, I’m not offended by “crotch goblin” either. I just think it’s icky.

Some of the rhetoric in this thread goes way too far for my taste. I don’t like this term, but I like the judgment here of how people use evolving language even less.

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6 hours ago, Farrar said:

Meh. I’m not offended by it. Honestly, I’m not offended by “crotch goblin” either. I just think it’s icky.

Some of the rhetoric in this thread goes way too far for my taste. I don’t like this term, but I like the judgment here of how people use evolving language even less.

I mostly agree. I *really don’t like the term, can’t imagine it coming out of my mouth, and didn’t like typing it, lol. But there are lots of assumptions being thrown around that make me feel icky, too.

I know there are things I say to and about my kids that would have people saying I’m a terrible person/parent. I’ve got someone IRL who thinks telling crying kids that they’re fine is psychologically damaging! There’s always a critic. 

That said, I genuinely forgot that the dingo thing was an actual, real life event. My brain definitely sorted it into pop culture.

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21 hours ago, The Accidental Coach said:

What do you think of the trend to call a fetus a crotch goblin? I know two separate couples (who do not know each other) who are referring to their growing baby by this term. I know it's supposed to be funny but it strikes me as odd. Am I just old or has my sense of humor aged like an 80's hard rock ballad (stuck in time)?

That's weird. And tacky. I'll join you with the other old folks. Also, I don't think I'd call it a "trend." Not enough people doing it.

Someone here long ago called her baby Schmooey. Or Shmooey. Not sure how it was spelled, lol, but it was cute, and that's what I called my first grandchild until he became Devon.

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