Does anyone besides LHCers say "hairtoy"?

[Pierre]

I was looking through the comments on Flexi-8 and spotted several occurrences of "hairtoy" or "hair toy" (and one occurrence of "best thing since sliced cheese" ;)). One is by "Baþak", who is obviously our Başak, who is in Turkey, not Iceland. Most of them, though, I couldn't identify. So what's the probability that someone is an LHCer, given that he/she says "hairtoy"?

[fishwich]

High, but not definitive. I've got a couple of friends who use it and they're not on the forum. However, and this is a nifty semantic distinction, they tend to say "hair toy" instead of "hairtoy".

[desertgirl]

It wasn't until I came to LHC that I started hearing 'hairtoy' or 'hair toy'. Before that it was just 'sticks', 'clips' and 'hairties'

[RoseRedDead]

I've had the same experience as the above poster. It was all new to me when I came here!

[Dars]

I'm stumped, what on earth is the difference between saying "hairtoy" or "hair toy"?? I've never heard of this saying until LHC. When I hear the word toy, at this age I relate it sexually. Meh.

[Toadstool]

Before I came here I'd only ever heard them referred to as "hair accessories". I always wondered if it were an American term.

[Katze]

I always wonder what to call them to myself. No one I know says hairtoy or hair toy, but I only know one or two other hair obsessors. :D

I always think of them as 'hair accessories' but that doesn't work either. Hair tools? Functional hair decorations? Uh...

[Melisande]

I love the word ;-) It was the first of the LHC jargon that I adopted. I even use it in German - Haarspielzeug. Although this sounds much more serious.

"My name is Melisande, and I'm an hairtoy addict."

[dragonfrog]

I think it's a great term, although I've never heard it ouside of LHC. I've used it in real life several times and no one seems to think it's odd. However, I refer to pretty much any objects I enjoy as toys-- besides hair toys I have knitting toys and music toys and of course my computer is my biggest toy of all :)

[Curlsgirl]

When I use it IRL, I get strange looks but I used it anyway because I like it. :D

[Magicknthenight]

I have used the term "hairtoy" in public. Mostly i am pretty specific and i say hair stick or hair fork (unless i say i have lots of hairtoys) but when i have said "hairtoy" yea i got some interesting reactions. Some people didn't know what i meant. Some people said it sounded wrong. Though i explained. I try not to talk about hair and hairtoys too much around everyday people so they don't see my obsession:D. But so i don't confuse them i try and say "hair stuff". But sometimes "hairtoys" just slips because I've typed/said it a lot. It kinda comes naturally sometimes..haha

[Tabitha]

I'm sorry, I absolutely absolutely hate this term. To me it's a rather unsettling mix of the childish and the pervy. Just my opinion although I've heard a few other people on here say the same.

[Pixna]

To me it's a rather unsettling mix of the childish and the pervy.

I read this and LOL! I feel exactly the same way -- just could never quite put it into words. I was also a little hesitant to speak up about it. :lipssealed:

[Finoriel]

I never heared/read the term outside of this forum. So if someone uses it it´s likely that the person at least reads here.


I'm sorry, I absolutely absolutely hate this term. To me it's a rather unsettling mix of the childish and the pervy. Just my opinion although I've heard a few other people on here say the same.

I´m with you Tabitha. The word hairtoy really makes me cringe and I try to avoide using it whenever I can. It´s just a such common term here that it´s hard to not use / write it. Even though I dislike it... :silly: brainwashed by the community I suppose :lol:.
Translating it to my other languages (German and Swedish) makes the Eek!-factor even worse. It sounds very wrong and very cuty-childish-baby-talk or somehow pervy. Honestly I would never say it loud.

I much prefer the term jewelry or hair-jewelry for my sticks and forks :wink: sounds much better in all languages I use and more reflects the quality and what they mean for me. They are not really toys.

[Lady Godiva]

I say, "hair tool" or the item's actual name 99.99% of the time, because such items are very functional for my hair, unless speaking with someone in a store or who might not be into hair "accessories." I don't relate a toy aspect to hair tools, as I almost never wear hair accessories for a purely decorative purpose, which is what "toy" suggests to me.

Another cool observation of yours, Pierre. Dropping "hairtoy" in conversation might just be the secret code we can use to discern if a fellow real-life longhair also comes by here. :idea:

[cakedcake]

I'm sorry, I absolutely absolutely hate this term. To me it's a rather unsettling mix of the childish and the pervy. Just my opinion although I've heard a few other people on here say the same.

I agree! I get really uneasy with infantalizing words, like even "tummy" and when people talk about posting a "piccie" on the forums, something in me screams: "NOOO."

Hairtoy isn't as bad as "piccie," but it reminds me of something large and plastic in a dog's mouth. "Piccie" reminds me of a grown woman speaking motherese to herself in an empty babyless room, which would look kind of scary!

[Katze]

I love the word ;-) It was the first of the LHC jargon that I adopted. I even use it in German - Haarspielzeug. Although this sounds much more serious.


I could never say this, but German is my third language, so it might sound different to a native speaker. "Haarspielzeug" sounds really, really weird to me. BF and I say "spange" or "gummi" for most hair containing items, works well for us.

And I have to second (third) the idea of "a weird mix of childish and pervy" for the term hair toy, which is why I can't bring myself to use it.

[swirlytresses]

Wow, I never actually thought about it this way....I've typed the term myself because it's used on here a lot, but have never said it out loud :o.

[thankyousir74]

I don't think I use the word IRL and if I have, it's probably only slipped out to my DBF, who would be 99.9% sure that the term comes from LHC (the place where I get all my wacky hair ideas from). Other than that I don't really use it because I haven't found the need to (I don't own many hairtoys myself), but when others use it I have no problem at all. Instead of childish/pervy I see it as an endearing LHC-exclusive term, like hennahead, coneheads, teh cones, or nicknaming people curlies or wavies. It's all part of the community IMHO

[smerrie]

I had never heard it until LHC, and honestly? I don't really like it! I don't know why, haha.
I usually just say "hair accessories" - but then, I also don't use most of the hair toys that long haired folks do, just plain old rubber bands and hair pins for me!

[smerrie]

I'm sorry, I absolutely absolutely hate this term. To me it's a rather unsettling mix of the childish and the pervy. Just my opinion although I've heard a few other people on here say the same.

I should have read all of the other replies before I responded - good to know that I am not the only one that doesn't like it! I was afraid to say something since I am, after all, a newbie. I didn't want to offend anyone!

[nowxisxforever]

How strange that so many feel it's childish/pervy! I don't see it like that at all, but then I'm 21 and enjoy any number of things others would consider "childish". I don't see where just because I'm 18+ I need to act like a Professional in everyday life. I'm reputable to my customers on the phone all day doing technical support, they don't give a rat's arse about the fact that I sleep with the teddybear I've had since 3rd grade or that I decorate my cubicle with ducks and have two things of markers and some coloring books in my drawer for long, boring calls.

To boot, I don't see how it's pervy. It's..a word. A word that's descriptive... hairthings that you enjoy playing with your hair with. Hairtoys. Descriptive, short, and less unwieldy as a term than "hair accessories" or "hair jewelry" or "hair tools". I generally avoid the words accessory, jewelry and tool, though.

[fishwich]

Nothing ever pinged me as pervy about "hair toy". A toy is a thing you use for fun, and having a squid stuck in your head is pretty fun so I'm going with that.

"Toy" may have some connotations to vibrators and the like for adult women, but that's not the only thing we do for fun, right? :D

[nowxisxforever]

Nothing ever pinged me as pervy about "hair toy". A toy is a thing you use for fun, and having a squid stuck in your head is pretty fun so I'm going with that.

"Toy" may have some connotations to vibrators and the like for adult women, but that's not the only thing we do for fun, right? :D

Yeah that's a good point, "toy" has gotten a connotation that really doesn't have anything to do with its meaning.

[Deborah]

I have used the term 'hairtoys' for many years. I never once considered it in any way suggestive or perverse. It is simply a short, pretty apt, description of a great number of items that one uses to style or decorate their hair. It think it is perfectly innocent, and just connotes the joy we take in using the various fun and pretty items in our hair. The implication is simply innocent fun.

Maybe it's a matter of one's general outlook. I don't see hidden meanings or anything sexual in haircare. It's just hair, the same as a baby's or a child's.

[Kirin]

I'm another one that hates this term lol. I do not put "toys" on my head, but really needed care/grooming items and accessories. Toy makes it sound like a frivolous item, which, its not.

[Melisande]

Oh, wow, I missed that vibrator connotation completely. For me, toys are nice things to play with, and I'm sad my children's dolls and soft toys and play cars are no longer in use. It's a way of poking fun at the fact that I spend so much money on something that is not really necessary but great fun. After all, children take toys very seriously but others don't. I feel the same about my hair toys - for me, it's a great decision to use this or that clip or fork, but for the rest of the world, it's not even noticeable.

I also feel there is a difference between using an ironical word like hair toy and calling a picture a piccie (never heard that one before). I do read sometimes words like preggers or preggo and was not impressed, but I feel hairtoy is a different way of neologism. (But what do I know, English being my third or fourth language?)

But if so many people don't like the word, I wonder how it got so widely used?

[Eden Iris]

I've used this term since college, long before discovering LHC. One of my friends started it among my circle, and it stuck. To me, hair toys are indeed frivolous, which makes them fun! A comb is a tool; I might use the term jewelry for something really ornate and made of actual gemstones or precious metals, but even my kind-of-expensive hair-holding items I still think of as toys.

I only think of sex toys as "toys" in certain contexts. The word toy on its own still evokes a child's plaything for me, but then I have little kids (and their toys) in my house.

[ClareDee]

Oh, wow, I missed that vibrator connotation completely. For me, toys are nice things to play with, and I'm sad my children's dolls and soft toys and play cars are no longer in use. It's a way of poking fun at the fact that I spend so much money on something that is not really necessary but great fun. After all, children take toys very seriously but others don't. I feel the same about my hair toys - for me, it's a great decision to use this or that clip or fork, but for the rest of the world, it's not even noticeable.

I also feel there is a difference between using an ironical word like hair toy and calling a picture a piccie (never heard that one before). I do read sometimes words like preggers or preggo and was not impressed, but I feel hairtoy is a different way of neologism. (But what do I know, English being my third or fourth language?)

But if so many people don't like the word, I wonder how it got so widely used?

I agree with this. For me, hairtoys are largely fun and frivolous. Calling them "accessories" all the time is... well...a bit longwinded and uncatchy, while "tools" seems a bit too sombre (and too grand a term for, say, a little clasp with beads on it). A pervy association never occured to me.

But I have no issue with people using cutesie words like piccie and so on either. I barely notice it. And I probably use them myself sometimes.

[Islandgrrl]

I had never heard the term "hairtoy" until I came here. I always called them "hair pretties."

[Bene]

before coming here, i always called them "hair thingies". i think "hair toy" is more appropriate. not for once did i ever think of the adult toy connotation, and i'm a pervert. go figure.

[teela1978]

I usually call them 'hair ties' even if it's something that doesn't tie.

[UncommonTart]

I had never heard the term "hairtoy" until I came here. I always called them "hair pretties."


Me too! "Hair pretties" that is.

I have heard the term before though, outside of LHC. I tend to mentally divide my hair pretties into categories by design, appearance, or materials, though. So, Evelyn the Octopus is a "hair toy," as are my penguins and a few other pieces. Some of my Cattails Arts sticks or my Ficcares or sterling ponytail holders are "hair jewelry." The name doesn't reflect how much I value the item, just the mood that I might wear it in. Collectively, they are all my hair pretties.

I also think that Melisande said it very well, and there's not much that I feel that I can add to that.

[EdG]

LHC is the first time I have heard the word hairtoy.

I'm not sure I can say it with a straight face. :D
Ed

[kwaniesiam]

Hairtoy for me was definitely an LHC only term, though a few friends have picked up on the use from me :D

[Jinx2234]

I picked up the term hairtoy from here and use it occasionally in real life. I never thought about the other possible connotation of the term, but that probably explains the weird look my friend gave me when I said I had bought some new hairtoys. I had to explain what I meant. But I don't really discuss hair much other than here, since no one except for my husband knows about my obsession and he gets tired of listening to me yap about hair stuff.

[Wanderer09]

I like the term but I don't use it in real life, because I know how many confused looks would be thrown my way.

I usually just call things by their proper names (hair sticks, hair ties, etc.), and collectively I refer to them as 'hair thingies'. ;)