This Is What People Are Referring To Their Periods As These Days

    "I have salsa in my taco."

    Krista Torres
    by Krista Torres

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community what they say when it's "that time of the month." So – here you go – this is what people are calling their periods today!

    1. "Kelly Kapowski can't make it to cheerleading practice."

    NBC

    —leilajoy04

    2. "Shark week."

    pinterest.com

    I call it shark week because a uterus looks like a shark brain and women on their period can sometimes be like sharks.

    —rebeccanelson05

    –I refer to it as Shark Week, because a) it’s bloody and horrifying and b) shark brains look exactly like uteruses.

    —alexs42167736a

    3. "Strawberry week."

    reddit.com

    —melanier4567cb5c3

    4. "Butt week."

    Nickelodeon

    Here's a jingle that my fiancee likes to sing when I'm on mine... "It's butt week, yeah, butt week. It's like shark week, yeah.......but way more butt sex!"

    —janiceh47325a992

    5. "I am wearing my red dress."

    HBO

    My husband was so confused when we first got together.

    —antoniaireyonw

    6. "The playground is closed."

    Paramount

    —kimberlyfayem

    7. "The painters are in."

    Endless Poetry

    —shannyg

    8. "Elmo."

    memecrunch.com

    My friends and I have called it "Elmo" since middle school.

    —meganf21

    9. "The ninja."

    Nickelodeon

    It feels like an invisible ninja stabbing me in the uterus.

    —julial11

    10. "Lady dot."

    Disney

    —niknak119

    11. "I have salsa in my taco."

    Disney

    —nataliej4ce163cae

    12. "Potato."

    gifimage.net

    When my girlfriends and I were just hitting puberty we wanted a way to tell each other we were on our periods without anyone else knowing, so we all would call it our "Potato." To this day we still use it if we're in public and the other always knows what is being said!

    —djpowpow

    My roommates and I started calling it “larger potato” because we saw some post about how the uterus is the size of a potato and swells to the size of a larger potato during your period.

    – emilymariec3

    13. "It shall not be named."

    Warner Bros.

    (Voldemort reference for non-Harry Potter fans.)

    —missgem

    I call it "Voldermort."

    –Tiffany Olson, Facebook

    14. "Aunt Flo."

    Progressive

    When I’m cramping and can feel it coming, I say Aunt Flo is about to visit. She’s getting ready to unpack her bags and stay.

    —jenniferrr

    15. "Ragging."

    NBC

    Or I started my rag.

    —sweetness120107

    16. "Ms. Cleo is calling."

    Warner Bros.

    This was when Ms. Cleo was a thing. If it was heavy, then she had a lot to say. If it was light, she was whispering. If it was one of those horrible months, she was screaming and slamming the phone.

    —jkimoehl

    17. "The plague."

    Fox

    —delaneyc4d490f95b

    18. "The gladiator fight."

    DreamWorks

    Shortly after learning about Ancient Rome in my sixth grade history class, I started referring to my periods as “the gladiator fight” because there was a lot of blood and pain.

    —sandrab4fbdf3282

    19. "Red wedding."

    HBO

    —danielleelained

    20. "Satan's waterfall."

    LaFace

    —tarynparker2003

    21. "Taylor Lautner."

    Summit Entertainment

    My sister and I were huge Twilight fans years ago and decided to name our periods after our favorite characters. She named hers Jacob and I named mine Taylor Lautner. It's pretty funny to say Taylor Lautner is here and gauge people's reactions around you.

    —letiawaddy

    22. "Carl is having a nosebleed."

    Fox

    My vagina’s name is Carl, so when my period comes I just say, "Carl is having a nosebleed." My friends, family, and doctor are aware but were definitely super confused the first few times I said it. They were more concerned about why I named my vagina Carl.

    —nicoleb4a47624c2

    23. "The apocalypse has come."

    E!

    —teagueblackhawk

    24. "Surfing the crimson wave."

    Paramount

    Only people who have seen Clueless as many times as I have seem to understand.

    —sydniy2

    25. "My blender is missing."

    Laff TV

    I started using this after my cousin had a mental breakdown over her missing blender on her period.

    —jasminecarber

    26. "My vagina's bleeding."

    Disney

    If someone asks me why I'm being cranky if I'm on my period, I like to look them dead in the eye and say, "Because my vagina's bleeding." Makes them uncomfortable every time and then they leave me alone which is usually what I want while menstruating.

    —jordanh452db4d1b

    27. "The red scare."

    Touchstone

    —unnawkward

    28. "The pyramid."

    ABC

    —unnawkward

    29. "The crime scene."

    screamqueenie.wordpress.com / Via instagram.com

    We call tampons and pads weapons.

    —crownedhydra02

    30. "End of sentence."

    20th Century Fox

    —b407bd4389

    31. "The devil's work day."

    Arista Nashville

    —lulurae18

    32. "I have a date with Pablo."

    TBS

    —chelsean48713e9b6

    33. "Code red."

    Columbia Pictures

    —crownedhydra02

    34. "Library."

    Warner Bros.

    My friend randomly came up with the code word "library," so now that's just what we call it!

    —samanthalopez1204

    35. "Cousin Patricia."

    IFC Films

    Cousin Patricia is the gigantic asshole of a family member who comes to stay every month for an entire week.

    —peggysmith

    36. "The monthly bill."

    Miramax

    —katiep44

    37. "The red tide."

    Warner Bros.

    —bethramseya

    38. "In the red tent."

    Fox

    —mollyb4263f18f6

    39. "Fiesta."

    Disney

    In high school my friends started calling tampons and pads "party favors." With that, we started calling our periods our fiestas. It started out as a joke, since periods are not even close to a fiesta, but it stuck.

    —danipreece13

    40. T.O.M.

    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

    Time of the month.

    —coralynncole

    41. "War zone week."

    Warner Bros.

    —carolyne45a8b5820

    42. "Steve."

    Fox

    My friends and I call our periods "Steve" because of that one American Dad episode.

    —chouinie

    43. "My relatives are in town."

    NBC

    —saphirabrightscales26

    44. "Riding the cotton pony."

    Showtime

    Shoutout to Shameless.

    –Emily Elizabeth, Facebook

    45. "Red flag."

    ABC

    —horseyork

    46. "Camping trip."

    Comedy Central

    My middle school choir teacher always called it a "camping trip" and it has stuck with me since.

    —morganf4cf39e3df

    47. "Martin's coming."

    Universal

    When my friends and I are on our period we say, "Martin's coming." Once my friend's boyfriend heard her say it and thought she was cheating on him!

    —jessicabartolo1

    48. "The big kahuna."

    WB

    —hannahf459c4323f

    49. "My uterus is redecorating."

    New Line Cinema

    —amys4041d9cba

    50. "Frank is dead."

    Showtime

    –Andrea Schoots, Facebook

    51. "Hell week."

    Fox

    —najufazio

    52. "Sweeney Todd."

    Paramount

    I like to call mine Sweeney Todd. My husband and I both love that movie/musical, so it’s my way of telling him that lots of blood is on its way. Plus, that entire movie represents how i feel on my period.

    —briannamichellef

    53. "The Red Sea is parting."

    Paramount

    —mollycapelli

    54. "Ragamuffin."

    New World Stage

    —hlo

    55. "Death."

    tumblr.com

    —LyricClarke1

    56. "Aunt Penelope."

    NBC

    —natasham4b2d3ab6d

    57. Aunt Irma

    Talkback Thames

    Thanks to the IT Crowd, it’s been Aunt Irma for a few years.

    —marialuisas3

    58. "Fausto."

    Universal

    I call it Fausto. My friend (who was born in Italy) called it like that so I started calling my period Fausto too.

    —bibilusaandreea

    59. "Riding the red toboggan."

    Fox

    —02chelseareynolds

    60. "Lady pains."

    NBC

    —mtmurray212

    61. "Thriller is here."

    Epic Records

    I first got my period when Michael Jordan still played for the Bulls, so I decided to refer to the arrival of my period as "Michael Jordan visiting." I guess because the Bulls’ jerseys were red? Anyway, at some point a friend of mine confused the phrase and started saying Michael JACKSON instead, which eventually led to us saying “Thriller is here”. Ya know, “And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike....”. Yeah, that actually makes more sense than Michael Jordan, anyway.

    —sarahelizabethr

    62. "Comma."

    ABC

    My mom never liked the word "period," so we decided that we would call it "comma" instead. Still a punctuation mark! Even today we call it our comma.

    —andreag4fdc81033

    63. "Oh man, I just shot Marvin in the face."

    Miramax

    My boyfriend and I are huge Pulp Fiction fans. When my period arrives I tell him, “Oh man, I just shot Marvin in the face.” And when it’s done I tell him, “Winston Wolf was here. Clean up is complete.”

    —kimberlyg4423ee78c

    64. "Paul."

    Dreamworks

    My best friend and I called our periods Paul. So it would be like, "Oh Paul is coming in this week?"

    —sarahelisabethf

    65. "Periodic table."

    elibelindeprint / Via instagram.com

    —yolomcmuffs

    66. "Bloody hell." (In an English accent, obvs.)

    Warner Bros.

    —lexiew47e829abf

    67. "The thing."

    Bravo

    —analuizaa475bd9dae

    68. "Moon sickness."

    Hulu

    —rachelj49d935b80

    69. "Woman week."

    Pop TV

    I don’t call it this but my dad always asks, "Is your sister on her 'woman week'?"

    —briannaalexisr

    70. "I'm having unexpected guests from Krasnoyarsk/Krasnodar."

    ABC

    In Russia we say, "I'm having unexpected guests from Krasnoyarsk/Krasnodar." Krasnoyarsk and Krasnodar are both real cities whose names roughly translate to "red town."

    —elin41687f27b

    71. "Little red riding hood."

    hedgerowdevil.tumblr.com

    —coldice

    72. "Leakage."

    Nickelodeon

    –kumarmegha15

    73. "Marshmallow time."

    Columbia Pictures

    I went to an all girls Catholic school and in my class we would refer to it as marshmallow time because our code name for pads was marshmallow. It was not unusual for girls in my class to scream, "Who has Marshmallows?"

    —taonga2000

    74. "Placebo week."

    Pop TV

    This started when I was on the pill and my period would come when I switched to the placebo pills. Even though I'm not on the pill anymore, I still use that phrase!

    —spartycopper

    75. "Princess time."

    NBC

    —jeannahl

    76. "The bloody Niagara has begun."

    ABC

    —bchandralekha26

    77. "I am 'on.'"

    tumblr.com

    —ishahassan22

    78. "Little ketchup packet."

    theneedvillecountrygirl / Via instagram.com

    Made up by my boyfriend.

    —ashleyp40ffc5396

    79. "Girly time."

    Nickelodeon

    —cornetto

    80. "Claire."

    NBC

    My sister and I call it "Claire" because in the movie The Clique, the mean girls put paint on Claire's chair in art class and laugh at her and say she got her period on her white pants.

    —laurens48462bfca

    81. "Fox bag week."

    Disney

    One of my friends has a little fox bag she keeps her "supplies" in so we all call our period "fox bag week."

    —sadiesullivan76

    82. "Fire ants in the hole."

    dnbndnb / Via instagram.com

    —supafly60mac

    83. "Riding the red dragon."

    Disney

    – hgamble1992

    84. "Lady juices are flowing."

    NBC

    —sydneye4ca4d884a

    85. "Krampus."

    NBC

    —scootypuffjrsucks

    86. "The red devil."

    SNL

    —elizhann

    87. "Box troll."

    3 Arts Entertainment

    –Ash Engelhardt, Facebook

    88. "Question mark."

    Warner Bros.

    —niknak119

    89. "Kitty's got a bloody nose."

    New Line Cinema

    —sarahs410c6c4b6

    90. "Out of commission."

    STX Films

    I used to tell my ex I was out of commission.

    —jessical406f0e7a0

    91. "The red moon is rising."

    HBO

    —same4cdc4a02a

    92. "The devil in liquid form."

    Fox

    —iamzecapzican

    93. "Snake spotting week."

    MTV

    A study found menstruating women can spot snakes better.

    –Lyn Baker, Facebook

    94. "Dementor."

    NBC

    I really fall in despair, and all hope and happiness is drained away...also I need high amounts of chocolate to overcome.

    –Diana Pink, Facebook

    95. "I'm patching."

    Orion Pictures

    –Delilah Rivin, Facebook

    96. "The French Reign of Terror is coming."

    Shudder

    Probably not the best, but anyone who knows what happened in the French Revolution knows how terrible this is.

    —briannab47bf8874c

    97. "Delicate state."

    ABC

    –Lnmunz

    98. "Mother nature."

    Super Simple

    –elissasteele4

    99. "Emily."

    ABC

    –kellyc4ca888435

    100. "The monthly curse is here."

    Disney

    –lajaaaam

    101. "I’m on my effing period and I’m miserable because I’m bleeding out of my vagina."

    Disney

    It’s 2018 and we shouldn’t have to sugar coat our periods anymore. It’s a normal bodily function and we, as women, should have the right to talk about it honestly and openly.

    – annaf406e5dbe4