December 08, 2019

Slang Words for Periods: 60+ Names for Menstruation Worldwide

The most common slang words for a menstrual period in English are "that time of the month", "Aunt Flo", "shark week", "on the rag" and "code red", but almost every language has its own. One international survey by a period-tracking app collected more than five thousand euphemisms from around 190 countries. This page gathers the best-known ones, region by region, including a few from the Gulf, then asks the obvious question: why do we need so many ways to avoid one short word?

Quick answer: the 20 most common English period euphemisms

Roughly in order of how often you will hear them.

That time of the month
Aunt Flo is visiting
Shark week
On the rag
Code red
The crimson tide, or surfing the crimson wave
Lady time, or lady business
Mother Nature's gift
The monthly visitor
The curse
My monthlies
Riding the cotton pony
Girl flu
The painters are in
Red wedding
Checking into the Red Roof Inn
Carrie, after the film with the bucket of blood
Moon time, or my moon
The Red Badge of Courage
Leak week

Some are jokes between friends, some are old enough that your grandmother used them, and one or two are frankly rude. All of them mean the same thing.

Period names around the world

The English-speaking world

In the United States, Aunt Flo, shark week and code red dominate, with "the red baron" and "Bloody Mary" close behind. Britain leans towards "on the blob", "the painters are in" and, among older women, simply "being unwell", a leftover from Victorian manners. Australians have "got the painters in" or are "up on blocks", borrowing a phrase for a car off the road for repairs. "The curse" survives everywhere English is spoken.

"Period" itself is a euphemism too. It is short for "periodic" and only became the ordinary word in the 1800s, a story we tell in our short history of periods.

Arabic and the Gulf

Arabic has a formal word and a set of polite everyday ones, and in the UAE you will hear both.

Al-hayd (الحيض) is the classical and religious term, used in scholarship and in discussions of prayer and fasting.
Al-dawra (الدورة), "the cycle", or al-dawra al-shahriyya, "the monthly cycle", is the neutral term most women and doctors use.
Al-'ada (العادة), "the habit" or "the usual", and al-'ada al-shahriyya, "the monthly habit", are the softer household versions.
Ma'dhoora (معذورة), "excused", is the Gulf's most graceful euphemism. Because menstruating women are exempt from fasting and formal prayer, saying "I am excused" in Ramadan tells everyone what they need to know without saying anything at all.

Arabic euphemisms are about routine and exemption rather than blood or drama, which fits a culture where the subject is private but never a joke.

South Asia

Because so many families in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi have roots in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, these are names many local girls grow up hearing.

Chums, an Indian English classic nobody can quite explain.
MC, short for menstrual cycle, said as two letters.
"I'm down", another Indian English shorthand.
Mahina or mahine (Hindi and Urdu), literally "month".
Mahwari (माहवारी / ماہواری), the proper Hindi and Urdu term.
Haiz (حیض), the formal Urdu word, borrowed from Arabic.
"Date aa gayi", "my date has come", in Hindi.
Sharir kharap (Bengali), "the body is unwell".
"Sitting out", an older phrase from the days when menstruating women were kept apart from the kitchen and prayer room.

Europe

Europe is where period slang gets theatrical.

French: les Anglais ont débarqué, "the English have landed", a reference to red-coated soldiers. Also les ragnagnas, and the neutral avoir ses règles, "to have one's rules".
German: Erdbeerwoche, "strawberry week", and meine Tage, "my days". Some families announce a visit from Tante Rosa, Aunt Rosa.
Spanish (Spain): Andrés, el que viene cada mes, "Andrés, the one who comes every month", and la regla, "the rule".
Italian: il marchese, "the marquis", as in "the marquis has arrived", and le mie cose, "my things".
Dutch: the standard word is ongesteld, "unwell".
Danish: kommunister i lysthuset, "communists in the summer house".
Finnish: hullun lehmän tauti, "mad cow disease", affectionate rather than medical.
Swedish: lingonveckan, "lingonberry week".
Russian: gosti, "guests", and krasnye dni kalendarya, "red days of the calendar", a play on the old term for public holidays.

Latin America

Andrés crosses the Atlantic and is common in Mexico and Argentina.
Estoy en esos días, "I am in those days", is heard everywhere Spanish is spoken.
Me vino, or me llegó, "it came to me".
La visita, "the visit".
In Brazil, estou de chico, "I am with Chico" (a nickname for Francisco), and estar naqueles dias, "to be in those days".

East Asia

Japanese: seiri (生理), literally "physiology", is the ordinary word and is not rude. Anne no hi, "Anne's day", refers to Anne Frank, because a famous early Japanese pad brand was named after her diary.
Mandarin Chinese: yuejing (月经), "monthly passage", is the medical term. The slang everybody knows is da yima (大姨妈), "the eldest aunt is visiting", the Chinese cousin of Aunt Flo.
Korean: saengri (생리) is the neutral word. Younger women also say geu nal (그날), "that day", or borrow the English word "magic".

Names in sign language

Sign languages are not international, and each has its own sign for menstruation. In British Sign Language the sign is commonly described as a flat hand held low in front of the abdomen with the fingers pointing down. In American Sign Language, a closed fist gently taps the cheek twice. Dutch Sign Language uses a small anticlockwise circle made with the hand in front of the face. The UAE has its own Emirati Sign Language with a published dictionary, and its vocabulary for the subject is its own rather than borrowed; the right source for it is the deaf community, not a blog.

Why so many euphemisms, and what they tell us

Five thousand ways to avoid one word is not a coincidence. Nearly every euphemism does one of three jobs. It hides the subject (the visitor, those days, being unwell). It makes it funny so nobody has to be embarrassed (shark week, the communists in the summer house). Or it turns a normal body process into something dangerous or shameful (the curse, mad cow disease). The Arabic "excused" is unusual in being neither a joke nor a hiding place; it is a practical statement.

Euphemisms are not the problem in themselves. Friends inventing a code word is one of the small pleasures of female friendship. The problem starts when a girl cannot ask for what she needs. Many of the period facts most women never learned stayed unlearned because the subject could only be discussed in code. A twelve-year-old who has only heard "that time of the month" may not know whether her heavy day is normal, or how to ask the school nurse for a pad. If you are a parent working out how to have that conversation, our first period guide for UAE parents covers the words and the practicalities.

The LiZZOM view: plain words are fine

At LiZZOM we like the funny names and use some ourselves. But a woman in Dubai should also be able to say "I have my period, do you have pads?" at the Life or Aster counter, or to a teacher, without lowering her voice. A pad is a functional product, like toothpaste. Knowing what you are buying matters more than what you call the reason; our complete guide to sanitary products in Dubai walks through the options in plain language, and our organic ultrathin pads arrive in plain courier packaging because there is nothing to hide.

Call it Aunt Flo, the strawberry week or the eldest aunt. Just make sure the words never get in the way of care.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most common slang word for a period?

In English, "that time of the month" is the most widely understood, followed by "Aunt Flo" in North America and "on the blob" or "the painters are in" in Britain. Among younger women online, "shark week" and "code red" are probably the most popular right now. Every friendship group tends to settle on its own favourite.

What do people call periods in Arabic?

The neutral, everyday term is al-dawra, "the cycle", or al-dawra al-shahriyya, "the monthly cycle". Al-hayd is the formal and religious word. In the Gulf, a woman may simply say she is ma'dhoora, "excused", especially during Ramadan, because menstruation exempts her from fasting and formal prayer.

Why is it called a period?

"Period" comes from "periodic", meaning something that happens at regular intervals. It became the everyday English word in the 1800s because it described the timing without describing the event, which made it acceptable in polite company. The ordinary word for menstruation started life as a euphemism too.

Is it bad to use period euphemisms?

No. Nicknames between friends are harmless and often funny. The only concern is when euphemisms are the only vocabulary a girl has, because then she may struggle to describe pain, heavy bleeding or a missed cycle to a parent, nurse or doctor. Teach the plain words too, and let her use whichever she likes.

Whatever you call it, be ready for it: shop LiZZOM organic pads, delivered across the UAE in plain packaging.