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Original poster

Half term didn't used to exist did it?

238 replies

EthicalNonMahogany · 09/04/2022 09:51

I feel gaslit by the world! The number of people who are saying to me "oh, at school we always used to call the Easter, Christmas and summer break half term". No you didn't! You used to call it the Easter holidays. It was the holiday that happens at the end of term.

"Half term" used to happen three times a year and was the week off, half way through each term.

I know there have been threads on this before - I'm not disputing that many people now call all the holidays half term. It seems to be the thing now. (Stupid and inaccurate as it may be, but I shall endeavour to cope and life will go on Grin)

My AIBU is this - people are saying it was always that way. AIBU to say no it bloody wasn't!!

OP posts:
HollowedOut · 09/04/2022 10:38

Air was always called half term in my house growing up. Sometimes the June half term might also be called Whit week though. The holidays at the moment are the Easter holidays.

Awalkintime · 09/04/2022 10:38

We used to get a September week and a half term in October up to about 2005 maybe.

ThatPosterIsSoRight · 09/04/2022 10:37

YANBU

I hear it all the time - from people with kids, from people without kids - where did it come from?? School holidays surely if it doesn’t necessarily tie in with Easter. But not half term. I’d say I’ve only heard this in the last 5 years at the most.

Been driving me mad too

BoredZelda · 09/04/2022 10:37

imprecise language that may well cause miscommunication

But the kids are off school, no matter what you call it.

TokyoSushi · 09/04/2022 10:37

I think I'm just annoyed because I've heard it about 20 times this week from various people! I know, I'm pretty lucky if that's the only thing I have to worry about!

BoredZelda · 09/04/2022 10:36

This is a weird thing to be really annoyed about!

As others have said, we don’t even have half term in Scotland.

BusinessMindThoughts · 09/04/2022 10:36

@WallaceinAnderland

I just think it's a shorter way to refer to school holidays.

Half term is two syllables - Easter holidays is five.

That's it.

Those people are wrong. That's my one-syllable efficient way of saying "those people are using imprecise language that may well cause miscommunication"
Beautiful3 · 09/04/2022 10:35

Half term holidays are called that, because they are half way through the term!

gingercat02 · 09/04/2022 10:34

It's a MN thing. No one I know IRL calls them half term, no matter which country of the UK they live in or how old they are. HT is the week long October, February and May ones OP I agree

Changechangychange · 09/04/2022 10:34

Autumn term, Spring term, Summer term. With a break halfway through each, which is called “half term”. Because it is half way through the term. And Christmas break, Easter break and Summer break between the terms.

What batshit person thinks the 8 weeks off in Summer is a half term? Confused

me4real · 09/04/2022 10:34

YANBU, if people are doing that it's odd. The end of term break is an end of term break, not a half term one.

Notgotanyidea · 09/04/2022 10:34

Autumn 1
October half term
Autumn 2
Christmas holiday
Spring 1
February half term
Spring 2
Easter holiday
Summer 1
May (Whitsun) half term
Summer 2
Summer holiday

BusinessMindThoughts · 09/04/2022 10:34

I'd never heard/ seen anyone calling it 'easter half-term' until the other day on an email or something and I thought they were a bit muddled/ not someone used to dealing with schools etc.

Didn't realise it was a thing ppl said! It's definitely wrong.

WallaceinAnderland · 09/04/2022 10:32

I just think it's a shorter way to refer to school holidays.

Half term is two syllables - Easter holidays is five.

That's it.

Whatalovelydaffodil · 09/04/2022 10:32

@Shinyandnew1

We always had half term holidays, half way through terms.

Some people have inexplicably recently started calling all holidays ‘half term’ though-not sure where it has come from.

Exactly. A holiday can't be called "half term" if it's actually between terms!
museumum · 09/04/2022 10:32

As a child (80s Scotland) we had Easter, Christmas and summer holidays, October week and the February break. (Feb I think was a long weekend back then).
We don’t have a “half term” in the summer term due to Easter, all the May bank hols and we break up end of June in Scotland.

TokyoSushi · 09/04/2022 10:31

I was so irritated by this that I was about to start my own thread, ITS NOT FUCKING HALF TERM!!!!!!!!!

It's absolutely everywhere, social media is full of it, loads of people talking about it 'oh what are you doing for half term?' People just call every single holiday half term, probably even the bloody summer.

Half term is the holiday HALF WAY THROUGH THE TERM, this is the end of term, so the EASTER holidays.

Argh! (Well aware I need to just breathe.)

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 09/04/2022 10:29

Summer holidays6 weeks
October Half term... halfway through Autumn term
Christmas holidays
February half term halfway between Christmas and Easter
Easter holidays
May halfterm- halfway through summer term
Then back to Summer holidays.

Odd bank holiday or teacher training day.

Then last few years suddenly every holiday is a half term on here, chatting etc. But the schools still refer to them by their proper names...

MrsLargeEmbodied · 09/04/2022 10:29

i was sure easter holidays used to be three weeks?
or am i confused.

ancientgran · 09/04/2022 10:29

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

I suppose it depends on the age and location of those people. I was born mid eighties in England and we had 1 week half term and two weeks end of term/6 weeks summer. As it is now.
I'm almost 70 and that's how it was in the 50s where I was at school in England.
TheHumanSatsuma · 09/04/2022 10:27

There used to be 3 terms. Autumn, Spring, Summer. Half way through those terms there was a week break (half-term) Christmas holidays at end of Autumn, Easter at end of Spring. Summer holidays at end of Summer term/school year. A while back it was changed to 6 terms supposed to be equal length, although in practice (at least in Kent) not.

In most schools they still call end of term 1, 3 and 5 half-term. This is the Easter holidays though!

ReadyToMoveIt · 09/04/2022 10:27

@EthicalNonMahogany

I thought it was a MN thing too! But it's creeping in everywhere!

Until this holiday. The number of people that have asked whether my DD is on half term astounds me!

see that's my experience too. People in shops. People running the sodding easter holidays camps for the kids! And then the woman doing my bikini wax just now told me that when she was at school.(which would be about 8 years ago) everyone called end of term holidays "half term".

I don't mind change, decline and fall of civilisation etc I just object to being told it's always been this way!Smile

You’re a better person than me, as I do mind! It’s inaccurate. It’s not half term! It’s the end of a full term!
Rodaliess · 09/04/2022 10:26

It’s doing my head in too! And I refuse to call it Easter half term. So when people have asked what I’m doing at half term I’ve responded about the one in May

Samcro · 09/04/2022 10:22

easter is easter always has been. so easter holiday.
half term is well at half term.

Snoopsnoggysnog · 09/04/2022 10:22

It is not half term! My DH keeps doing this too! It’s the Easter holidays at the moment. Half term is in May! I also call that Whitsun but that is just met by blank looks these days Hmm

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