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Have you ever used cutesy phrases to talk about your period, like “Aunt Flo is in town” or “I’m surfing the crimson tide”? Well, you’re far from being the only one. The new book Flow: the Cultural Story of Menstruation, by Elissa Stein and Susan Kim, manages to be both hilarious and educational in its approach to menstrual history. Here, they list common euphemisms for periods from around the world.
- The Netherlands: “The tomato soup is overcooked”
- Brazil: “I’m with Chico”
- China: “Little Sister has come”
- many parts of Latin America: “Jenny has a red dress on”
- Australia: “I’ve got the flags out”
- Denmark: “There are Communists in the funhouse”
- Ireland: “I’m wearing a jam rag”
- England: “I’m flying the Japanese flag”
- Japan: “Little Miss Strawberry”
- France: “The English have arrived”
- Germany: “The cranberry woman is coming”
- Puerto Rico: “Did the rooster already sing?”
- South Africa: “Granny’s stuck in traffic”
In other news, I am stealing that Danish phrase pronto.
In England you could say “the painters are in” but I have never heard the thing about the Japanese flag. I doubt that anyone would know what you were talking about if you said that.
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I’m Irish and I’ve never heard that one before. “on the rag”
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America: Aunt Flo is in town
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In central Mexico, it’s used “vino andrés” (andrew came), because it rhymes with “el que viene cada mes” (the one that comes each month) :P
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the river overflowed.
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in ireland we say the painters and decorators are in
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Greece:
1. The Russians have arrived
2. Olimpiakos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympiacos_CFP) has a match today
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i say “my friend came”
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In Finland we say: “She has the jam week”
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America: My boyfriend and I always say, “Is TOM here?” (time of month)
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in the Philippines we say, “My monthly visitor has arrived!” LOL
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We always said that “the ladycave was undergoing some renovations” and whenever my boyfriend asks if it’s over, he phrases it like “has the paint dried yet?” (*^~^*)
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I’m American and I always refer to it as “I’m under going maintenance ” lol
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