# "Baby bump" -- new phrase? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756 "2005-12-08T21:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/21 "2005-12-09T14:16:47Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > A lady never canoodles and tells. 😉 No of course not, I thought _you_ might though 😃 Kidding, kidding, I nearly got into a lot of trouble with a girl once when I implied she wasn’t a lady. I only avoided a prolonged icy stare by going on to say that she was a woman, she seemed to prefer that for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/22 "2005-12-15T17:16:09Z")
If there’s a “bump” why do the tabloids assume the person is pregnant? Maybe she’s got a stomach like most people. Maybe the starlet **ate** a big meal. Gods forbid! Any famous guys with baby bumps? As researcher, that would get my attention. ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/23 "2005-12-15T18:28:29Z")
Bump is pretty common in Britain as far as I’m aware. My MIL (Scottish) sent a present addressed to “the baby bump” well before it was due. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/24 "2005-12-15T18:45:02Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > It seems to be relatively new (within the last year or so) around US gossip mags, along with “canoodling”. Boy I hate both of those terms! I love the word “canoodle.” It was something that no one but us word nerds used to use, but I think it entered the popular idiom when Angelina Jolie and her brother spent the entire Oscar telecast _canoodling_, and the popular media picked up the term to describe it – no other word was so perfect. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/25 "2005-12-15T18:47:37Z")
See, “baby bump” to me suggests a young bump. I suppose I could get used to it though. Ditto to **Bear\_Nenno** , it’s a stupid word and we don’t need it. “Pregnant” still works just fine. As for canoodling, I rather like that one. It implies a giddy sense of fun that IMO should always be a part of The Act. > [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > What the heck are you doing while “canoodling” that makes it onomatopoeic? Use your imagination. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/26 "2005-12-15T18:48:01Z")
> [@Mouse\_Maven](#): > > If there’s a “bump” why do the tabloids assume the person is pregnant? Maybe she’s got a stomach like most people. Maybe the starlet **ate** a big meal. Gods forbid! Because “Starlet PMSing and quite bloated! Pics inside!” sells fewer papers than “Young unmarried starlet knocked up!! Guess the daddy, pics inside!”? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/27 "2005-12-15T19:24:47Z")
I’d rather call it “brat fat”. “tumid tummy” “ab-flab” ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/28 "2005-12-15T20:44:39Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > It’s about as annoying as “preggers”. If one more person calls me ‘preggers’ or ‘preggo’, I might fly into a hormone-induced rage and hurt them. Bump only bothers me like it bothers me when we steal all kinds of phrases from the Brits. Of course, ElzaHub and I have picked up a ton of Britspeak after the enormous amount of BBC America and EastEnders we watch, so we probably can’t complain - not when we’re talking about ‘quid’ and ‘wonky’ and ‘wankers’ and ‘can’t be arsed’. 😃 E. ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/29 "2005-12-15T21:30:59Z")
> [@amaranta](#): > > Because “Starlet PMSing and quite bloated! Pics inside!” sells fewer papers than “Young unmarried starlet knocked up!! Guess the daddy, pics inside!”? 😃 Good point! ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/30 "2005-12-15T21:36:42Z")
Makes sense to call it a baby bump. After all, I certainly called Mrs. Butler “bumped up” when I got her pregnant with the Butlerette. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756.md?page=1)