Because she said so... top mumisms revealed

“WASH your hands!” has been named the mum saying most of us recall from our childhoods.

A list of the top 25 mumisms has been revealed, with “because I said so” and “I want never gets” also featuring high up.

Other sayings that have stood the test of time are “don’t say what, say pardon”, “sit on your chair properly” and “I don’t care who started it”.

List

But the age-old phrase “wash your hands”, said to generations of children coming in from outdoors, was named the all-time favourite in a survey, with 47 per cent of respondents saying it was the one mumism they had used the most.

Classics such as “don’t talk with your mouth full” and “if you don’t finish your dinner, there’ll be no pudding” also emerged among the final list.

“If someone asked you to jump off a cliff, would you?” is still used by 28 per cent of parents, as is the doom-laden prophecy “it’ll end in tears”, while 34 per cent of modern mums still utter the

phrase, “wait until your dad gets home”.

Online restaurant reservation service OpenTable commissioned the survey of 1,500 British mums ahead of Mothering Sunday this weekend.

Three in 10 of the parents surveyed said they often find themselves saying the exact same things to their own children that their mother used to tell them.

Thirty per cent of mothers admitted that, when they look back on their own childhood, they realise now that almost everything their mother told them was right.

And a third revealed that, when they reflect on the times they argued with their mother, they can see she definitely had a point.

Some 36 per cent admitted they wished they had listened to their mother more when they were growing up.

The study also revealed that half of Britons will spend more on their mother this year than usual, and will splash out at least £64 on presents or flowers.

A third said they have traditions they like to do with their mum on Mother’s Day, such as always trying somewhere new for food or drinks, or simply going to the same restaurant each year.

Robin Chiang, from OpenTable, said: “It’s undoubtable that some of the nation’s best-loved mumisms are going to crop up around the table.”

A third admitted the pandemic meant they now have a greater appreciation of their mother.