Saying "ta" instead of "thank you"

[saffstel]

Dd2 (10 months) is staring nursery in a couple of weeks. We did an intro hour yesterday.

Her key worker (who was also dd1's key worker) says 'ta' to the children when she hands them toys, food, etc.

This is a pet hate of mine and it annoyed me when she did it with DD1.

Wibu of me to ask her to say "thank you" instead of "ta"? The discussion sounds really petty when I have it in my head, but I really, really hate "ta".

I think when you send Dc to nursery /school you just have to let some things go. Ta would make me cringe, but so does saying "pardon?" And I would never have dared say anything to DD's teacher about it- although I regularly had to ask DD not to say it at home.

Nursery staff will not always do things exactly as you would, but hey.

Oh ffs! Do you have nothing else to worry about?

Up in Yorkshire it is used by adults as an everyday thanks didn't realise you could get yourself in such a pickle over it.

I really don't get the big problem with this. I have never met an older child who doesn't know 'thank you' because people said 'ta' when they were little.

This^^

You know, not everything that was done in the 'old days' was wrong.
Simplifying speech and using baby talk was done for a reason. It made communication with the child so much easier. It was echoing their speech, the sounds were simple and therefore developed a relationship, a conversation.
I believe there is now research to say that it is actually a good idea.

And once a child is older and can speak 'properly' they can manage Thank You quite easily.

Those of us who grew up in the time of Baby Talk are quite articulate now...

lol I must be really common as well. I'm from the SE and say ta all the time. Used to live up north for uni so may have picked it up there! I do get weird looks when I say it down here

I hate it and won't be teaching it to my son, however in a nursery setting is just go with it.

Hate it, always have done. Used it a few times when I was growing up to try to fit into my peers but it always sounded and felt weird and so I dropped it. It's much more of a northern and midland thing, isn't it? I hardly ever hear it in London.

I wouldn't say anything to her, though.

To all the adults who use Ta, do you pronounce it 'ta' or 'tar'?

Pronounced as tar which is how children say it too. Didn't think there was another pronunciation

Each to their own, and as someone else said, they will copy you ultimately.

I can't use ta, as it means 'take' in scandi. So it would make no sense if they say it back!!

If it was a family member you'd be within your rights to ask them not to say ta. But don't be that Mum at preschool.

I've said this before I am sure, but "ta" is just a shortening of the Norwegian "tak" and is used in the North probably as a hangover from when we was all Vikings round these parts. It's not baby talk!

Or is it "tuk" in Norwegian? Anyway, you get what I mean!

It isn't baby talk. It's a dialect word that's been absorbed into the broader lexicon.

But do go on clutching your faux pearls in horror whenever your child says "ta" or "toilet", or else the better educated amongst us won't be able to sneer at you.

saf I understand where you're coming from, is it even a word?

I hate it and have never said it , had my own children started saying it at home after attending nursery I too would be inwardly twitching, it's a word I've never liked and wouldn't say in a childcare setting, which I work in incidentally.

Actually mentioning your irritation out loud is tricky, you might be seen as one of 'those' parents and it might not come out the way you intend it, causing offence perhaps.

I would suggest saying nothing.

I can't believe a previous poster said that they use it at work

Why not?

It will all be a moot point when they're at high school it's all: summat
Innit
And every other word is "like".
And they speak in a language that you don't even understand!

Let's face it it's a bit common.

There I said it.

OP just carry on saying thank you and your will catch on with it.

Hahahahahaha!
Wrong, trust me, 'Ta' is perfectly acceptable in the circles in which you would like to mix.

I grew up in Essex where people say "tar" all the time. When someone says "tar, luv" it gets me just here . Same goes for referring to a problem as "jip". I LOVE IT!!!!!

2 oldest said at then switched to thanks or thank you when older. Youngest says 'tank oo' at 2 yo. Eldest happens to be a sarky beggar and has been known to bow and say 'I thank you' when the mood takes him
Ta is the norm in these parts as is loo so nobody bats an eye at it.

I am really polite but I will say 'ta' in some situations. I have no issue with it in informal situations.

I say tar rather than ta (with a short hard 'a'). Is that less common that the other way around.

So the word 'ta' is offensive? Did I just read that correctly?

Just imagining some of you clutching your pearls whilst in earshot of common little babies innocently saying 'ta' to their chavvy parents - oh the horror

To all the adults who use Ta, do you pronounce it 'ta' or 'tar'?

Ta. It's a shortening of 'Tak', so not sure why anyone would pronounce it 'tar'.

See round here, (black country) 'tar' is a perfectly acceptable, is slightly relaxed word for thank you. 'ta' is something you say to little ones when they are just learning to talk, so still in the dada mama stage... totally different. If an adult said 'ta' to me I would think they were off their rocker, 'tar' and I would say you're welcome!

Of course it's not, Shelbury, misplaced snobbery is all!