People can’t agree on the ‘correct’ term for losing feeling in your bottom after sitting down for too long – as one woman says her ‘life is a lie’ since hearing some suggestions
What do you say when you’ve been sat down for too long and you lose all feeling in your bottom?
We’ve all been there – you sit down in one position for too long and when you stand up, you can’t quite feel your behind. It’s most common after a long journey on a train or plane, and while it’s not dangerous, it’s definitely a bizarre sensation.
But when it strikes, what do you say to let other people know what’s happened? It turns out many Brits have different go-to phrases, and people are struggling to agree on what the “correct” term is. The woman who sparked the debate has been left feeling as though her “life is a lie” – as not a single person backed her.
In a post on Reddit, one woman asked: “Is my life a lie?”, after she used her phrase in front of her boyfriend and found he had “never heard” of this phrase. Her choice of words? “My a**e has gone flat”.
She explained: “Used this phrase in front of my boyfriend, meaning you’ve got dead legs and your a**e has got that weird numbness, (typically from having sat on the floor or an uncomfortable ‘flat’ seat) to which he replied, ‘don’t you mean numb?’
“He has apparently never heard this turn of phrase in his life, while I’ve grown up hearing it. All my Googling is only turning up bemoanments of a lack of posterior plumpness! Can someone please tell me this isn’t just a weird thing my family/area says?”
Commenters on the post were baffled by the woman’s claim, with many saying they also have never heard of “gone flat” as a descriptor for losing feeling in your rear.
By far the most common names for the sensation were “numb bum” and saying your bum has “gone to sleep”. While some others said they often used “gone dead”, and a few claimed they just called it “pins and needles” like they would for any other part of their body.
There was at least one person who did back the woman, however, stating the phrase “gone flat” was used by their family, who live in North Wales. They said: “My Welsh in-laws have used ‘I’ve got a flat a**e’ if they’ve been sat waiting in uncomfy chairs for ages or something. So not necessarily got numbness, but a very similar context.”
What name do you give the sensation? Let us know in the comments!
