Page 12 | To be shocked that not even one y4 child knew the meaning of the word velvet?

Utterlybananas333 · 2026-01-01T17:09:00+00:00

My sister is a teacher in a South London primary school, she is a year four teacher of around 30 8 to 9-year-olds. She was recently describing her disbelief over the fact that not a single child knew what velvet meant? There were some crazy guesses, and lots of children who thought it was cake (probably relating to red velvet). Is it just the fact that children and adults don't talk anymore? That nobody reads anymore? Or even watches educational TV programs? Would your child know?

Grumblies · 01/01/2026 21:11

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 21:00

Yes but they would have some concept of it

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But knowing it was a description for something soft wouldn't have helped them get the answer of it's a material any more than knowing about red velvet cake would? So just because they might have read lots of books with the word velvety in it wouldn't actually have given them much more context when asked directly what velvet meant.

SpanThatWorld · 01/01/2026 21:10

SoftBalletShoes · 01/01/2026 20:37

That's a bit weird since stairs still have bannisters!

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But they are increasingly called hand rails

TheFormidableMrsC · 01/01/2026 21:09

I’ve just asked 14 yo DS if he knows what velvet is. He immediately and confidently replied that it is a colour. I blame red velvet cake for this 😆. I own absolutely nothing velvet and it’s just not crossed his radar. I don’t think it’s odd that year 4’s don’t know.

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 21:08

SummerFeverVenice · 01/01/2026 21:06

It’s hardly something a child that age and in these times would ever come across. It’s like acting surprised that an English child doesn’t know what bara brith is.

Definitely not comparable

SummerFeverVenice · 01/01/2026 21:06

It’s hardly something a child that age and in these times would ever come across. It’s like acting surprised that an English child doesn’t know what bara brith is.

Disco2022 · 01/01/2026 21:03

I think my DS7 has a pretty good vocabulary. (Two teachers for parents) But the other day I said "Go and hang your towel on the landing" and he was dumbfounded! Apparently hasn't picked up the word landing yet!

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 21:03

Grumblies · 01/01/2026 21:02

And maybe some of them did know it as a description but they didn't know what it actually was in terms of a material.

Knowing it's a way of describing something e.g that feels velvety doesn't mean they know velvet is also a material. They are two separate words.

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Correct

Grumblies · 01/01/2026 21:02

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 21:00

Yes but they would have some concept of it

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And maybe some of them did know it as a description but they didn't know what it actually was in terms of a material.

Knowing it's a way of describing something e.g that feels velvety doesn't mean they know velvet is also a material. They are two separate words.

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 21:02

OrigamiAnimal · 01/01/2026 21:00

I find it so weird that people are saying it's a fabric no one wears or uses nowadays. This is one of those Mumsnet alternate universe things I think. I am sitting on the floor of our playroom and can see 5 velvet cushions, a velvet footstool, 2 velvet hair bobble bows and about ten velvet tree bows.

I know its so weird
It's also so so common

There are literally books, songs, poems, online articles as well as magazines that reference it

It's weird gaslighting on here sometimes

Hiptothisjive · 01/01/2026 21:01

And I am ‘shocked’ at the hyperbole to describe a very mundane thing…..

SoftBalletShoes · 01/01/2026 21:01

FreedomForFree · 01/01/2026 18:02

I've never heard of a velvet quilt, do you mean like a bedspread?

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I bet many people don't know what a candlewick bedspread is.

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 21:00

Grumblies · 01/01/2026 20:59

To be fair they'd be wrong in the OPS sisters scenario if they used it in this sense as presumably she asked what velvet was meaning it's a material and if they'd used it in terms of a description for something e.g it's something that feels soft or silky like a dogs ears they wouldn't have given the right answer...

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Yes but they would have some concept of it

OrigamiAnimal · 01/01/2026 21:00

I find it so weird that people are saying it's a fabric no one wears or uses nowadays. This is one of those Mumsnet alternate universe things I think. I am sitting on the floor of our playroom and can see 5 velvet cushions, a velvet footstool, 2 velvet hair bobble bows and about ten velvet tree bows.

TheKeatingFive · 01/01/2026 20:59

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 20:55

That was just ONE example it is used in many, many books and programmes as a descriptor

Again with the comprehension of concepts

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But that's the whole point, isn't it? It's just one word. We don't judge anyone's vocab solely on whether they know the meaning of one specific word.

Particularly if, as in this case, there are lots of reasons why they'd be less familiar with it compared to their parents' generation.

Grumblies · 01/01/2026 20:59

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 20:55

That was just ONE example it is used in many, many books and programmes as a descriptor

Again with the comprehension of concepts

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To be fair they'd be wrong in the OPS sisters scenario if they used it in this sense as presumably she asked what velvet was meaning it's a material and if they'd used it in terms of a description for something e.g it's something that feels soft or silky like a dogs ears they wouldn't have given the right answer...

OkWinifred · 01/01/2026 20:58

It’s not the 1970’s, so realistically no it doesn’t surprise me.

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 20:57

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 01/01/2026 20:53

That’s stuff in baby books is micro fleece not velvet ( textile nerd here😁)

Yes but it may be described as having a velvety feel

80smonster · 01/01/2026 20:56

Oh no. Their parents must be fabric savages. I think a letter to an MP is necessary. Did this happen in Croydon?

AgnesMcDoo · 01/01/2026 20:56

I’ve just checked with the nieces and nephews in my house

Nephew 17 - it’s a colour
Niece 13 - it’s material
Niece 12 - it’s material
Niece 9 - don’t know, never heard of it

LonginesPrime · 01/01/2026 20:55

I suspect it’s at least partly to do with the fact most people buy the majority of their clothes and textiles online nowadays.

When children regularly accompanied their parents to clothes shops and haberdasheries, velvet would come up in conversation as they would be able to touch it and feel the difference between different fabrics, whereas nowadays, it will only be if the parent ends up choosing the velvet option that a child comes into contact with it.

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 20:55

TheKeatingFive · 01/01/2026 20:51

My children weren't particularly into those kind of books, tbf

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That was just ONE example it is used in many, many books and programmes as a descriptor

Again with the comprehension of concepts

TheKeatingFive · 01/01/2026 20:54

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 01/01/2026 20:53

That’s stuff in baby books is micro fleece not velvet ( textile nerd here😁)

😂

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 01/01/2026 20:53

That’s stuff in baby books is micro fleece not velvet ( textile nerd here😁)

Didimum · 01/01/2026 20:52

I don’t think it’s particularly fair for a generation to judge the known vocab range of the generation below it. The English language grows far more rapidly than it shrinks. English gains several thousand new words per year, and only a small fraction become truly obsolete in the same time frame.

The generation below you is literally exposed to far many more words than you are, and will likely know many words that you will not.

TheKeatingFive · 01/01/2026 20:51

imabitjealousandembarassed · 01/01/2026 20:48

Good lord

It is widely used as a sensory descriptor. There's patches of it in those fucking that's not my cat it's too fluffy books
It's not bloody unicorn skin

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My children weren't particularly into those kind of books, tbf