Families often develop their own shorthand, but sometimes the smallest phrasing can spark a surprisingly big reaction.

When one mother casually referred to her husband as “him” while directing their son to ask for help, it set off an unexpected argument.

Now she’s left wondering whether a harmless comment crossed some unseen line.

Read on for the full story!

AITA for calling my husband “him” when speaking to my son?

My husband was sitting in an adjacent room of the house, and my son was asking me if I could take him to the store to buy something.

Here’s where things went south.

I told my son to go ask “him,” motioning to my husband in the other room because I was busy.

My husband got very upset that I used the pronoun “him” and said it was very disrespectful toward him as my son’s father for me to not refer to “him” as “your father.”

She’s left confused by his overreaction.

I don’t feel like it was wrong, but maybe I just don’t understand from a man’s perspective?

AITA?

She certainly didn’t mean to hurt her husband’s feelings.

What did Reddit think?

This mix-up probably has more to do with different upbringings than it does about gender.

On the other hand, this commenter does seem to think her husband has a point.

Small conflicts like this are just something couples learn to deal with.

All things considered, this user doesn’t think this woman did anything wrong.

Misunderstandings are bound to happen in relationships, and in the grand scheme of things, this one is pretty harmless.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.