I swear, perhaps too often. My default frustration lines are typically "for fuck's sake" or "are you fucking serious?" And yet my first reaction to obvious bad behavior on the part of Garbage McWoof was to open my mouth and let one of my mother's favorite phrases come flying out. Apparently, it's a fairly common phenomenon. According to the Daily Mail, "eight out of ten of today's mothers admit they use the very same cliches to discipline their children that they had to endure from their own parents." Granted, I have a dog, not a child, but the phenomenon still applied. When it came to laying down the law, I went with one of Mom's old standbys, followed by another one of Mom's old standbys: "You're skatin' on thin ice, Mister!"

Kathryn Crawford of TheBabyWebsite.com tells the Daily Mail that mothers often revert to cliched sayings because we've seen them work before: "The funny thing is that many mums will insist they are nothing like their own mothers," she says, "But the reality is that we can't help but teach our children as our parents taught us, and that means using old sayings and routines which worked for our parents." Naturally, there are learned behaviors, and instantaneous reactions that one picks up during one's own childhood. And if it ain't broke, don't fix it. (After writing that sentence, my mother's voice popped into my head again to say, "Isn't. The word is Isn't. Don't say ain't. You weren't raised in a barn.")

According to Crawford's site, the Top 20 sayings passed on from parents to children include "Wait and see," "Because I said so," "I've told you a thousand times," and "That's for me to know and you to find out." "Cripes Almighty," isn't on the list, though it certainly makes my Top 20 Momisms. Feel free to add your own parental hand-me-downs in the comments.

Are We Turning Into Our Parents? [The Baby Website]
Because I Said So: Eight Out Of Ten Mothers Admit To Repeating The Old Adages Their Parents Used On Them [DailyMail]

Gavin says that he never said "fiancee" when referring to his now wife. "I think I just said 'my wife.'" I've actually contemplated just referring to my fiancé as my husband a few times, like to people who don't need to know my life story, e.g. the lady who does my nails. But I couldn't bring myself to do it, because we don't even live together, and it sorta reminds me of something that a weirdo habitual tale spinner like Kim from Real Housewives of Atlanta would do.

Sadie has the same problem. "I say 'boyfriend' and then people check my hand to see if we've called it off." Anna, who got married this past summer said, "I would either say 'boyfriend' or i would say 'fiancé' but I would preemptively explain how much I hated the word. There was always a warning before it came out of my mouth."

Sadie suggests that we "just go totally archaic with 'liege,'" but that still sounds weird. We tried to come up with some other options like "pre-wed" or "GIM" (as in "guy I'm marrying"), but neither of those seem very viable.

I know it's just a word, and I'll probably continue to say "boyfriend," but it would be nice to find a word that conveyed the distinction of our new relationship status without making it seem like our relationship is a status symbol. Any ideas?

My mother calls most women girls, unless they are older than she is. Therefore, if she says, "I saw this girl wearing pink sneakers," she could mean an 8-year-old gradeschooler or a 47-year-old lawyer. I am guilty of the same thing: I sometimes use the word "girl" to describe women my age or younger. Of course, as I grow older, it becomes less and less appropriate. Sometimes, when speaking in disparaging tones about silly, trendy, teetering intoxicated college-age women wobbling through the streets of New York, "drunk girls" seems incredibly apt. But the truth is, it's reductive. It's insulting. It strips a female of her power to dub her a "girl" and therefore not mature. A girl is insecure, incomplete; a woman is confident, competent. Calling a woman a "girl" is not a compliment, and many females who marched and protested for the right to vote and for the ERA would be happy to explain why.

On the other hand, there's a casual, comforting nostalgia in saying, "I'm having drinks with the girls." And I'd feel the same way if a man said he was going to "have drinks with the boys." There's a playfulness there, and in this day and age — when thirtysomethings are wearing pink sneakers and dark jeans just like schoolkids, when video games and indie bands are enjoyed by thirty-two year olds and two year olds, when no one wants to grow up — there's often no hidden meaning in teasing friends by saying, "girls, let's go shopping!" or "get it, girl!" or the dreaded "you go, girl!" Plus, while you can casually refer to a young man as a "guy," there really is no equivalent for females. Something slangily in between girl and woman that has a lightness, a joie de vivre, a femininity without the seriousness imparted by the use of "woman." ("Chicks"? No.) But maybe such a word does not exist because such a thing does not exist? Are you either a girl or a woman? And by trying to soften and strip the word "woman" of power, do we do the same to the females we call "girls" ?

Napa Valley Girl Makes Splash In French Wine Marketing [Newser]