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Original poster

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

646 replies

Utterlybananas333 · 01/01/2026 17:09

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?

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MusicMakesItAllBetter · 02/01/2026 21:21

FreedomForFree · 02/01/2026 20:23

Presumably with a tissue like most people nowadays

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Well, I was going to say on their sleeves but preferred on a tissue/toilet roll/kitchen roll/serviette.

Never heard paper hanky in my life!

MayIDestroyYou · 02/01/2026 21:16

It’s year 4, not 4 year olds, @C152.

So they’d be 8, or 9 years old.

Watchoutfortheslowaraf · 02/01/2026 21:06

I asked my year 5 what velvet was and she confidently replied ‘cake’

Differentforgirls · 02/01/2026 21:06

AhBiscuits · 02/01/2026 21:02

Definitely not on a hankie 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

My kids may not know what they are as we use tissues. I wouldn't have snot rags in the house.

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So you use paper HANKIES!

AhBiscuits · 02/01/2026 21:02

Differentforgirls · 02/01/2026 20:11

How do you wipe your nose?

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Definitely not on a hankie 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

My kids may not know what they are as we use tissues. I wouldn't have snot rags in the house.

imabitjealousandembarassed · 02/01/2026 20:57

fetchacloth · 02/01/2026 20:41

I'm not at all surprised.
Velvet is a fabric that hasn't been in vogue for many years, consequently hardly anyone wears it.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

imabitjealousandembarassed · 02/01/2026 20:57

Differentforgirls · 02/01/2026 20:11

How do you wipe your nose?

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And how come he's never read it in a book or seen it in a film

Jojobees · 02/01/2026 20:48

P00hsticks · 01/01/2026 17:26

How many households have newspapers and magazines in them any more though ? Far fewer than a few decades ago ...

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My deaf child was having a vocabulary test with his Teacher of the Deaf and one of the pictures was a newspaper. He didn’t know what it was. Why would he? I haven’t bought an actual newspaper since before he was born ( he’s 6)

fetchacloth · 02/01/2026 20:41

I'm not at all surprised.
Velvet is a fabric that hasn't been in vogue for many years, consequently hardly anyone wears it.

butterdish93 · 02/01/2026 20:32

My kids 3, 5 and 6 know because we have the velveteen rabbit. And because they have a lot of craft supplies.

some of your sisters class probably did know but were not forthcoming with the answer for whatever reason.

ChampagneLassie · 02/01/2026 20:30

I don’t think this is shocking. Times change. In 42 and my thanks to internet and TV my kids are exposed to LOADS more animals. I only learnt about sloths in my 30s but my 3.5 yr old knows about them now and many other exotic creatures that I simply wasn’t exposed to via TV books or anything. I only really knew about the most common ones (ie the big 5).

scalt · 02/01/2026 20:29

Try the long list of colours in the song from Joseph and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat, which includes fawn.

would children know what all the colours look like? Ochre, russet, mauve?

Differentforgirls · 02/01/2026 20:27

FreedomForFree · 02/01/2026 20:23

Id expect their granny/great granny to say paper hankie, does anyone I see the age of 80 say that?😂

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I do. So does everyone I know. Is tissue an American word?

Differentforgirls · 02/01/2026 20:26

FreedomForFree · 02/01/2026 20:23

Presumably with a tissue like most people nowadays

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Does no one call them paper hankies anymore?

FreedomForFree · 02/01/2026 20:23

Differentforgirls · 02/01/2026 20:11

How do you wipe your nose?

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Presumably with a tissue like most people nowadays

FreedomForFree · 02/01/2026 20:23

Sharptonguedwoman · 02/01/2026 19:40

How strange that they don’t make the connection with paper hankies-perhaps the word tissue is more used.

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Id expect their granny/great granny to say paper hankie, does anyone I see the age of 80 say that?😂

WhatMummyMakesSheEats · 02/01/2026 20:19

Talltreesbythelake · 01/01/2026 17:14

It's more likely to be because children don't wear that fabric anymore. They will know about more modern fabrics instead.

I would’ve thought those who do dance, figure skating or gymnastics?

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 02/01/2026 20:12

I’m going to ask my similar aged child when I’m out the bath. I have a feeling they’d also have no clue.

Differentforgirls · 02/01/2026 20:11

MusicMakesItAllBetter · 02/01/2026 18:59

My 11 yr old DS asked me what a handkerchief was yesterday.
If children have never come across it, how will they know what it is?
Doesn't make him dim.
We don't use them in our lives 🤷🏼‍♂️

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How do you wipe your nose?

C152 · 02/01/2026 20:05

It's an odd word to be flabbergasted about. It's not like it comes up in everyday conversation - most mothers are in jeans and flats and carry a backpack when looking after their 4 year old (velvet doesn't get a look in!) . Am I surprised not one child had heard of it? Yes and no. Children pick up on what's around them. If the school is full of parents who neither wear velvet nor work with it, it's not such a surprise that their children don't know the word. (Velvet sofas generally aren't the first choice for parents with young kids.)

Sharptonguedwoman · 02/01/2026 20:04

Sharptonguedwoman · 02/01/2026 19:43

OPI had the same issue using the word ‘dawn’ to describe a shade of brown, senior school, can’t remember which year possibly 8 or 9. Just looked at me blankly.

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Fawn not dawn

Sharptonguedwoman · 02/01/2026 20:02

Grumblies · 02/01/2026 20:00

To be fair I'm in my 30s and I would have looked at you blankly too. Have never heard of dawn being used too describe the colour brown.

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Autocorrect! Fawn

Grumblies · 02/01/2026 20:00

Sharptonguedwoman · 02/01/2026 19:43

OPI had the same issue using the word ‘dawn’ to describe a shade of brown, senior school, can’t remember which year possibly 8 or 9. Just looked at me blankly.

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To be fair I'm in my 30s and I would have looked at you blankly too. Have never heard of dawn being used too describe the colour brown.

Wooky073 · 02/01/2026 19:58

what are the social demographics of the group? Velvet is traditionally a luxury fabric worn by lords, ladies, kings and queens. If you went back to the slums of victorian england and asked the kids what velvet was they also would not know.
Kids dont really wear velvet so it does not surprise me that they wouldnt know what it is. I did actually have a velvet dress as a kid as it was i think on trend in the 70's. So I had context and texture links to know what it was. Otherwise I woudlnt have known. I think its safe to expect that the kids do not have any velvet in the house. Kids know what is around them, otherwise it is an abstract concept. I expect Prince George knows what velvet is. Kids also dont really know what record players are or tape players (though possibly more now know tape players after stranger things). Its not that they are ignorant or that no one talks, its just that its not a part of their lives - its not part of their lives so its not relevant to them. As I kid I had heard of a gramophone but I didnt really know what it was.

Sharptonguedwoman · 02/01/2026 19:43

Utterlybananas333 · 01/01/2026 17:09

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?

OPI had the same issue using the word ‘dawn’ to describe a shade of brown, senior school, can’t remember which year possibly 8 or 9. Just looked at me blankly.

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