An Ugly Choice Of Words

(My grandma on my mother’s side is known for being very strict, old-fashioned, and cranky. She was especially harsh on my mother while she was a child. One of the smaller things she’d do is every time my mother misbehaved, she’d tell her not to ‘be so ugly.’ All of this has caused quite some confidence and self-image problems with my mum, which my father knows about. I am about five years old when this happens, and already a very shy child.)

Me: *in a small fight with my older brother*

Grandma: “Don’t treat your brother like that! Don’t be so horribly ugly!”

Dad: “Listen to your grandma. She obviously knows a lot about being ugly.”

(My grandma just stared at him. She never called me ugly again. Dad got the biggest kiss ever from my mum later that day!)