‘Having the painters in’: Women use 5,000 euphemisms for their period, survey finds

“Having the painters in”, “shark week”, “on the rag” and “Bloody Mary” are all euphemisms for the same thing: menstruation, a subject that is still taboo in many countries in the world, according to a major survey on the issue.

Women refer to periods in code using some 5,000 euphemisms, avoid discussing the issue with male colleagues or relatives, and some skip school or work to hide their symptoms, a survey of 90,000 people in 190 countries has found.

Most participants globally said they had received information about starting their period, but there were some major gaps. In Russia 75 per cent said they had not received enough, in Ukraine it was 60 per cent, and in India 40 per cent.

Puerto Ricans were most comfortable talking to male colleagues and classmates about periods, whereas participants from Saudi Arabia were the least.

Puerto Ricans were also the most comfortable talking to male relatives about the issue, and Japanese participants the least - just 13 per cent said they felt comfortable.

“It’s unfortunate that so many people feel they aren’t able to be open about their periods, and, in many regions, this is even the case within families,” said Ida Tin, CEO of Clue, a Berlin-based female health company which carried out the survey.