From 'strawberry week' to 'magic day': How women in different countries say 'I’m on my period'

You can find cuss words in movies, social media, heck, even in everyday life. But when it comes to the word “period” or “menses”, it is still more taboo than the F-bomb or the name of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Even the most foulmouthed female might take a pause before whispering back when posed that most sacred query among the sisterhood: Got extra pad or not?

And yes, women still pass around those winged things like a Class A drug, eyes scanning the horizon for anything remotely male before handing the sanitary napkin over like contraband.

I suppose it’s an improvement from the early 1990s when I asked a secondary schoolmate for one – and discovered she wrapped hers in several layers of newspaper. “In case I drop them by accident, no one can tell what they are,” she explained in a hushed tone.

The way we hide behind newspaper-wrapped pads and period slang is proof that women are still very much embarrassed – or made to feel ashamed – of their monthly bleed. It is as if we absolutely cannot have the menfolk know or hear that we’re menstruating, lest their ears burst into flames or something like that.

And so, we invent replacement words. Period euphemisms are a worldwide phenomenon and it’s not only conservative Asian cultures that use them. In fact, an online survey answered by 90,000 people from 190 countries found that there are over 5,000 euphemisms for the word “period”.

Among the Mandarin-speaking populations in Asia, for instance, women know exactly what’s up when someone says her da yi ma or Big Aunt is here. This busy “relative” also makes her rounds to the US and Germany, where she is respectively called Aunt Flo and Red Aunt. If you’re curious what she’s called or referred to in other countries, we have a round-up below.

But if you’re done nicknaming your monthly affairs “Satan’s waterfall” or “riding the crimson tide”, it’s also okay to just say “period”. Period.

SOUTH KOREA: MAGIC OR MAGIC DAY

You’ve got to hand it to South Koreans for making bleeding time sound more bearable by calling it “magic” or “magic day” (it's apparently inspired by a webtoon). And it gets even better.

Okay, this other thing is not exactly an euphemism but it's more magical: On rare occasions, you do get K artistes such as Astro’s Cha Eun-woo fronting feminine products and looking like he’s listening to your period woes.

Or Park Seo-joon (this was way before he graduated from Itaewon Class) as a boyfriend with Golden Retriever energy making you as comfortable as possible.

JAPAN: THE ARRIVAL OF MATTHEW PERRY

What has Friends actor Matthew Perry done to deserve being called The Arrival of Matthew Perry by Japanese women who are on their periods? Nothing. It’s a different “Matthew Perry”, as it turns out.

Back in the 1850s, Commodore Matthew Perry of the US Navy strong-armed Japan into opening up to international trade. And like menstruation, it extremely disrupted Japanese society as it does the lifestyles of many women.

THE PHILIPPINES: REGLA

In Tagalog, period is also known as regla. According to a Reddit thread, the word has its roots in Spanish, which means rule or ruler. But it could also be a portmanteau of “regular” and “labas”, meaning flow.

INDIA: CHUM OR PURATHAYO

We can’t think of any woman who welcomes her period like a BFF but in India, menstruating individuals sometimes refer to that time of the month as a visiting chum, an old-school word for pal.

Another slang that can be heard in some parts of India is “purathayo?”, which means “are you out?”. It unfortunately came from a time (and is still practised in some parts of the world) when menstruating women were considered unclean and had to stay outside of their homes. 

US: SHARK WEEK

Americans don’t mince words with their version: Shark week. TV lore has it that it was inspired by Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, an annual, week-long block of shark-related content, which, like a period, can be bloody. 

FRANCE: THE LITTLE CLOWN WITH ITS BLEEDING NOSE

Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to this French period slang: The little clown with its nose bleeding or in French, le petit clown qui saigne du nez. Maybe it’s a reference to how the cramps are like the uterus clowning with you?

PORTUGAL: RED TRAFFIC LIGHT

Many women put the brakes on in bed when they’re on their period out of embarrassment or to avoid making a mess. And in a way, Portugal’s sinal vermelho, which means red traffic light, is like giving their partners the stop sign.

GERMANY: STRAWBERRY WEEK

Other than Red Aunt, German women also call their periods erdbeerwoche, which translates into strawberry week. Pretty cute.