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Original poster

A staycation is NOT a holiday in the UK, FFS!

300 replies

FunTimes2020 · 17/08/2021 22:18

I know I am NOT being unreasonable Halo

OP posts:
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LanaDelBoy · 17/08/2021 23:56

Why can't it be a staycation and a proper holiday?

Because it's deliberately used instead of the word 'vacation' - because on a staycation you're not vacating your home for any length of time.
If it meant the same thing you wouldn't need to make up a new word.

See the merriam-webster text that have been posted twice now in this thread.

herculesoffline · 18/08/2021 00:04

@LanaDelBoy

Why can't it be a staycation and a proper holiday?

Because it's deliberately used instead of the word 'vacation' - because on a staycation you're not vacating your home for any length of time.
If it meant the same thing you wouldn't need to make up a new word.

See the merriam-webster text that have been posted twice now in this thread.

It's a portmeanteau, not "used instead of". Like hangry. Just because I am hangry doesn't mean it would be incorrect to refer to me as hungry or angry.
herculesoffline · 18/08/2021 00:07

OED definition

Staycation - A holiday spent at home or in one’s country of residence.

www.oed.com/view/Entry/425083

sweeneytoddsrazor · 18/08/2021 00:09

A holiday in the UK might not be a different culture or food, but it is still a holiday. An extended break from the normal day to day living. I could go to many places abroad and eat the same food I eat on a daily basis in my own home if I choose to do so, doesn't make it a staycation does it? Likewise I could eat out every night on a UK holiday with a different type of food to what I eat at home.

isthisareverse · 18/08/2021 00:09

Our holidays (ie abroad) are other people's staycation anyway. Grin

LanaDelBoy · 18/08/2021 00:10

It's a portmeanteau, not "used instead of". Like hangry. Just because I am hangry doesn't mean it would be incorrect to refer to me as hungry or angry.

Portmanteaus don't always mean that they are both things combined.
A shopaholic isn't literally an alcoholic who likes shopping at the same time, it would be incorrect to refer to one as 'an alcoholic'. It means a separate version of a similar thing.

Miraloma · 18/08/2021 00:12

Whatever happened to the minibreak?

Bonmonkhouse · 18/08/2021 00:20

I totally agree OP. A staycation is spending your annual leave in your own house, and e.g. going on day trips. A holiday in the UK is a holiday. Confused

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 18/08/2021 00:22

And a holiday in another part of the UK is a big deal for many of us, so don't like it being referred to as the slumming it option!

Yes, thank you! To me the idea of a staycation is when you can't afford to go on holiday, or everywhere is booked up, or maybe you genuinely prefer that if you already live somewhere lovely (or near to lovely places), but it wouldn't be most people's choice of holiday. Whereas our personal choice of holiday would be somewhere in the UK.

We aren't xenophobic at all, but we love so many places in our own country, there seems no point in paying a load more for all the extra faff of going abroad.

To me, staycation means making the best of less than preferable conditions - e.g. we can't afford to go away this year, but we'll have lots of fun and go on nice daytrips instead. Call us horrendously dull and unambitious if you will, but our choice of holiday is Norfolk, Yorkshire, The Highlands, The West Country etc. - it isn't the crumbs that we have to make do with because we can't get what I really wanted.

Calling that a staycation is the equivalent of saying you haven't bought any food in because you've 'only' been to Aldi to do a big full shop rather than Waitrose or F&M.

ThePersonFromPorlock · 18/08/2021 00:23

When I was growing up, we called staying at home for the holidays a trip to Argate.

Terryscombover · 18/08/2021 00:31

Thank god I'm not alone. This has been really pissing me off.

A few years ago we took time off and planned trips out etc but always came home each evening. It was called a staycation.

What would that be called now or are we to all be brainwashed into that not being any sort of holiday even if your not working and just doing fun stuff?

Does the Isle of Wight count as overseas staycation?

Twofurrycatsagain · 18/08/2021 00:38

I think we should get rid of the word staycation. For a start it's holiday not vacation. (Light hearted, I know language evolves).
That said I think it means staying at home and doing day trips.

EBearhug · 18/08/2021 00:40

Does the Isle of Wight count as overseas staycation?

No. It's a holiday (or a daytrip.) Unless you live on the IoW, of course. Although technically, it's an island, and it the going to the IoW that makes it a holiday.

I can almost forgive staycation for a UK holiday. I might have to arrange a firing party for the person at work who talks about "vacay" when they mean "holiday". But then I was told off for asking how "literally bending over backwards" actually helped resolve a customer problem, when sitting normally at a desk would probably have been more effective.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 18/08/2021 00:51

I think we should get rid of the word staycation. For a start it's holiday not vacation.

Agreed. I don't see why we had to adopt an American expression in the first place, when we already had (if you insist on using a horrendously twee phrase) 'holistay', which is at least based on the common word that we use in the UK. Also, where did 'films' go - why do you only ever seem to hear people in the UK talking about 'the movies' now?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 18/08/2021 00:57

Does the Isle of Wight count as overseas staycation?

It is a bit weird how people tend to use the words 'overseas' and 'abroad' interchangeably, even though there are plenty of parts of the UK which require you to cross the sea to reach them from other parts of the UK.

I also constantly find it strange to think that my much-loved holidays in Norfolk technically involve my travelling to the other side of the world, as I live in the Western Hemisphere (in the Midlands) whereas most of East Anglia is in the Eastern Hemisphere - proper globetrotter, me Grin

Feather12 · 18/08/2021 00:59

I am in the US so am used to staycation referring to staying in your own house. But why do you need a word for staying in your own house? As a pp said you live there... I think the new British meaning is much better.
Also a staycation here does not always involve days out... that’s a daycation —fucking ridiculous—

onlychildhamster · 18/08/2021 00:59

To me, a staycation is when you stay in your city. Once you leave your city,/town boundaries it ceases to be a staycation.

in my country (singapore), the government gave the population money for staycations aka money to be spent in local hotels. They called it a staycation as Singapore is one of the world's few nation states.

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/all-adult-sporeans-to-get-100-tourism-vouchers-in-december-for-staycations-attractions-and

If they had gone to Johor Bahru, it would not be a staycation. JB is approximately 15 miles from Singapore :) Brits are incredibly lucky to live in such a comparatively large country with local holiday destinations.

onlychildhamster · 18/08/2021 01:01

Can you imagine what its like to be stuck for 18 months in the same city?!

SpindleWhorl · 18/08/2021 01:04

"Does the Isle of Wight count as overseas staycation?"

No. It's a holiday (or a daytrip.) Unless you live on the IoW, of course. Although technically, it's an island, and it the going to the IoW that makes it a holiday.

Portsmouth is an island too. A veritable holiday 'abroad'.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 18/08/2021 01:05

But why do you need a word for staying in your own house? As a pp said you live there

But it's the deliberate intent and the mindset: yes, we're still staying overnight at home, but it's a special week for making the most of, doing fun, holiday-type things and exciting daytrips - not just pottering around the garden, spending half an hour at the local park and maybe going out to the pub on the corner for a Sunday carvery.

HemanOrSheRa · 18/08/2021 01:10

@ThePersonFromPorlock

When I was growing up, we called staying at home for the holidays a trip to Argate.
Just what I was going to say!
Keyworth · 18/08/2021 01:18

When on vacation you VACATE your home and stay somewhere else.

When on staycation you STAY at home.

Hellotoallmyfans · 18/08/2021 01:22

I just hate the word itself.

It's up there with Holibobs and The Fam etc. Just really cheesy and irritating IMO.

OlympicProcrastinator · 18/08/2021 01:39

Do people who believe that it means your own country actually think that until cheap flights were a thing, most people had "staycations

Yes.’Vacation’ is an American word anyway. You still ‘vacate’ your house but you stay within your own country. It can be a staycation and a holiday at the same time.

Otherwise, you are just having a break from work and staying at home. It’s only on MN I’ve heard ‘staycation’ being used to describe just staying at home.

Furries · 18/08/2021 02:24

Am not RTFT as not going to deal with some of the replies 😂

A staycation is where you have time off from work, but you are staying in your own home.

It has nothing to do whether you are going away in the UK - that is still a holiday!