People who use the word family as an adjective

[fruityb]

Family weekend
Family time
Family day

I have a family but I don't feel the need to refer to family supermarket trip, family visit to great aunt Elsie, family evening. Especially when you see your family every day, it's not like you have to make weekends special because you're away a month at a time.

It irks me.

And I'm also in a bad mood so needed an outlet 😡

I may be guilty of this. When I speak to friends I play sport with, who ask if I am available to play, I might say well I could manage Saturday morning but not Sunday because I need to do some family stuff. By which I mean I need to do thinks like go shopping with DD1, take DD3 to a party, have lunch with DH, get laundry and homework done etc. It's just shorthand. What should I say?

Oh yep I agree with you OP - and many others on this thread.

Now I'm feeling even grumpier too

#my world with #this one #prinny

I refer to our car as 'the family hatchback' ' but my tongue is very much in cheek. We don't have kids, but it is a very boring and middle aged car.

If your family time is so precious and meaningful I am wondering why people use time to post pictures and naff comments on social media about it - wouldn't that time be better spent actually being with your family .

So glad I am not into social media.

majestic - why wouldn't you just say 'thanks but I am busy/have plans'?

I could say that Ragwort. Or I could give more information. It's like the difference between saying "I have plans" and "I'm working". What's the issue? Why does it matter which I say?

Well glad I'm not on my own here 😊 Can't comment any further as going on my #hollybobs with my #famalam to #makememories see you in a week #qualityfamilytime

I think I might dislike hashtags too....

Aw fruity hon, you forgot #blessed.

Family weekend
Family time
Family day

Compound nouns, not adjectives. I hope that helps - not with the weird attitude but as a basic grammar lesson.

I just couldn't get worked up about this shite, it's just so pathetically trivial to even warrant having an opinion on it.

I think the OP is making sense with the 'family' as an adjective thing.
The word family is being used to describe the thing they are doing. So it's a family walk, in the same way it might be a long walk or a brisk walk. Ditto family time, in the same way you'd say quality time or special time. A family day, a happy day, a boring day, a drunken day
OP never said family was actually an adjective, but when it's used in this way, to describe everything these families do lol, it makes sense, no?

Yuck! So with you, OP.

I thought I was right - I know family is a noun but it's being used as a word to describe everything here!

I have 2 children, DP Has 1. We both work full time and it's very rare we all get a weekend or day together so to us family time is very precious.

Yeah it's a bit smug. I can see it in the context of a family with young adult children who only come home now and then for a meal all together or something though.

And YY to 'special family traditions'. Like Christmas Eve boxes that every other bugger on the planet is doing you mean? Urgh.

I do find overt smugness irritating
Is it always overt smugness though? Maybe it's just people using expressions that come naturally to them...

Isnt Family Dinner meant to describe the main course, as in the same way as Roast Dinner or Chicken Dinner?

No more problems with fitting in Family Time here #feelingfull.

Definitely compound nouns

Ok so technically the adjective would be 'familial'. Familial time, familial dinner, familial day out. Which sounds wanky. But I think the argument stands that as 'family' is being used to describe what they are doing, and it's used before everything this particular person does, then it is being wrongly used as an adjective.

But you're not describing it, you're naming it.

It's not possible to use a noun to describe something for the simple fact that a noun isn't an adjective.

I don't believe it's possible to convert a noun to an adjective simply because of the context of its use.

Like...

Child Seat
Hand Bag
Rose Garden

Those front nouns aren't adjectives being used to describe the seat/bag/garden, are they?

Yes, it's a compound noun

MrsJamesMathews

Are you using two different usernames on the same thread?

I don't believe it's possible to convert a noun to an adjective simply because of the context of its use.

It is entirely possible for words to change class depending on context or position in a sentence. Zero derivation. I'm far too hungover (and possibly still drunk) to remember if this is happens for nouns to adjectives in Englis.h

Are you using two different usernames on the same thread?

No, why? Did someone else say the same thing? I did only scan read.

Are you accusing her of being a Grammar Sockpuppet?

This is what Wikipedia says -

For example, the noun green in golf (referring to a putting-green) is derived ultimately from the adjective green.

Conversions from adjectives to nouns and vice versa are both very common and unnotable in English