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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate the word ta

172 replies

chocolatekimmy · 15/05/2007 22:17

Always pronounced with that aaaahhhh a

(instead of thank you that is)

Drives me nuts, especially when after a child is used to it the mum insists on them saying thank you and correcting them each time!

There are many words a child won't be able to say or pronounce at a young age but we just wait don't we

OP posts:
SweetyDarling · 16/05/2007 10:55

I have just discovered that Nanna is a "lower class" thing in England. Is there anything that isn't class related here FGS!
Anyway, am rather a snob and "Ta" is considered common even in Aus. I don't use it and would correct my DC if they used it, but everyone else can do what they like!
Hey, at least I admit I'm a snob!

barbamama · 16/05/2007 10:55

I agree, I don't think it is a snobbery thing, I just think it sounds horrible and is an unecessary confusion as you eventually have to substitue another word. I know some adults say ta informally but you are not going to say "ta very much for offering me the job" at an interview are you?

Original poster
chocolatekimmy · 16/05/2007 10:35

My gripe is the way its said, often as taaaaaa ah several times, very slowly like the child is an idiot.

Vocabulary will come with time, as will manners. Not being taught to say taaaaa ah prior to being capable of saying thank you or ank you or similar does not mean a child has no understanding of manners or is impolite.

Manners are taught by parents/siblings/carers etc setting a good example from very early on.

Not sure why so many people have labeled themselves as common if they use the word?

OP posts:
MotherRedcap · 16/05/2007 10:32

Lol at this utterly snobbish thread. I say 'ta' to my babies AND I call their maternal grandma (my mother) 'Nana'.

Both drive my PILS to distraction

lionheart · 16/05/2007 10:32

Yes, you probably ABU.

babyblue2 · 16/05/2007 10:32

I don't believe its necessarily snobbishness, its perhaps what people were brought up with and how you happen to speak.

barbamama · 16/05/2007 10:27

I agree, my ds learnt to talk perfectly easily without ever having to say ta. He just said tchu tchu for thank you for a while which sounded really cute (as opposed to dim) and eventually led to the actual words thank you. i can't see how ta becomes thank you.

Aloha · 16/05/2007 10:27

Oh, come on, of course it is about class and of course it is snobbish!

babyblue2 · 16/05/2007 10:27

I don't dislike ta but prefer to use thank you.

hatrick · 16/05/2007 10:26

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hatrick · 16/05/2007 10:25

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Aloha · 16/05/2007 10:25

Ah, this is all SO smug and snobby though, isn't it?

LostPuppy · 16/05/2007 10:23

Good grief.

Ta means thank you. If you think it is annoying you are a head case. What other things trouble you, people who say 'Hi' instead of 'Hello'?!

sheepgomeep · 16/05/2007 09:30

my dd has an exceptional vocablary at age 4 and we started off by encouraging her to say ta.
Now she says thank you all the time and is extremely polite. As is ds aged 7

I would much rather a child say 'ta' than look at you all soft. Some manners at least are better than no manners at all surely?

OtterInnit · 16/05/2007 09:22

its annoying

mylittlestar · 16/05/2007 09:19

I use ta myself. Always have done.

So sometimes ds says ta, sometimes he says thank you.

Is it really a big deal?

gess · 16/05/2007 09:14

just wait?

ds1 is 8 and has a few approximation of words - I'll accept nanig for mummy and mmdan for toilet, so I'm more than happy to accept ta for thank you from 2 year old ds3. Sometimes he says ta sometime he says tan yoo. Either will do, I have this funny way of thinking that the communication is more importatnt than the word.

"mothere-ese" (ie baby speak) has been used since the beginning of mankind to talk to babies- babies tune in more to high pitched baby voices. Even young children adjust their speech to be higher pitched and babyish when talking to babies. It's natural, it's good mothering for want of another word.

Agree with harspichord carrier/ Aloha and expat etc. COuldn't have our children sounding common could we?

2shoeswhoismshadowsnumber1fan · 16/05/2007 08:49

hate why taech a child a word that is not real?

sarahhal · 16/05/2007 08:29

I don't mind it when they are first learning to speak but as soon as they can say thank you i prefer that!!

One thing my mum and other older relatives do which i can't stand, is to say "Dirty" in this really annoying way eg "De-tee" whenever a baby picks up something a bit grubby and puts it in their mouths. Why can't they just say " That's dirty"?????

DANCESwithnewlytannedlegs · 16/05/2007 08:26

I don't like it.

hatrick · 16/05/2007 08:25

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harpsichordcarrier · 16/05/2007 08:17

I have taught my dds to say it almost unconciously I think because that's what I was taught as a child.
along with bobo for horse . that one really winds my MIL up, though, I later found.
we say it in our family, "ta" that is. I think it is

Tutter · 16/05/2007 08:08

i don't like the sound of it. happy to wait til ds can say thank you. judging by current progress this may be when he's 5

powder28 · 16/05/2007 08:05

I think they must say ta at my sons nursery because he says it all the time.
I don't like the word, but if they say it to them at nursery and then I tell him not to he will get confused, so have decided to not say anything.

Flamesparrow · 16/05/2007 07:54

I don't have many wordy hates, but Ta is one of them.

I say thankyou to my children and then bloody friends try to teach them ta (like "Ta cup" to pass the cup).

I don't expect them to say Thankyou back - but they say the closest they can to it.

As for the soddin cup "Cup please" conveys the same message and uses real words!!!