Half term didn't used to exist did it?

[EthicalNonMahogany]

I feel gaslit by the world! The number of people who are saying to me "oh, at school we always used to call the Easter, Christmas and summer break half term". No you didn't! You used to call it the Easter holidays. It was the holiday that happens at the end of term.

"Half term" used to happen three times a year and was the week off, half way through each term.

I know there have been threads on this before - I'm not disputing that many people now call all the holidays half term. It seems to be the thing now. (Stupid and inaccurate as it may be, but I shall endeavour to cope and life will go on )

My AIBU is this - people are saying it was always that way. AIBU to say no it bloody wasn't!!

@SoManyTshirts

In my unreliable memory of the 60s and early 70s, half term was only 2 days (later extended with Baker days) and the other holidays were a bit longer.

The “Baker days”were snitched off the summer holiday. We used to go back in the second week of September, not the first.

Someone did this at the school date t'other day, referred to easter holiday repeatedly as half term. I've never come across it before and was baffled/confused.

I always called it half term but my friend who went to posh school used to correct me

When I first started school in 1977 I was at a private Catholic school run by French-Canadian nuns and we had no half terms at all - 2 weeks at Easter, 2 weeks at Christmas, and an enormous 11 weeks in the Summer.

Anyway I've never heard anyone here in Yorkshire call it "half term" when it's not - it's either "easter/xmas/summer holidays" or "school holiday" or "kids are off again, bleedin 'ell".

Work at a sixth form college, have noticed all the students calling both christmas and Easter holidays half term in the last couple of years. But only recently …. North west if that makes a difference

Yes it drives me nuts! I don’t just hear it on here, it’s everywhere! It’s the Easter holidays, NOT half term.

@Greatoutdoors

I always called it half term but my friend who went to posh school used to correct me

Weirdly, it’s my DH who went to ‘posh’ (independent) school who calls it half term, and I, who went to a bog standard comp, correct him!

I thought it was a MN thing too! But it's creeping in everywhere!

Until this holiday. The number of people that have asked whether my DD is on half term astounds me!

see that's my experience too. People in shops. People running the sodding easter holidays camps for the kids! And then the woman doing my bikini wax just now told me that when she was at school.(which would be about 8 years ago) everyone called end of term holidays "half term".

I don't mind change, decline and fall of civilisation etc I just object to being told it's always been this way!

Half term was mid-way through the term, though was only 2 days off in February, at least when I was at infant/junior schools. The periods of 2,2 and 7 weeks off were Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays.

Everyone IRL keeps calling this the "Easter half term" it's doing my head in and I don't even have school aged kids

@onlyhereforchaletschool yes! It's new!!!!

I am 50+ and in the SW we used to have Summer, Easter and Christmas holidays plus Half Term at end of October/bonfire night....we would often go to my grandparents in Manchester and I would be furious as I was NEVER allowed to go trick or treating or do Penny for the Guy.

Also Whitsun....that late may bank holiday
I feel sure there might have been something about February time too, but no real memories of that

In Scotland with my children, it was Christmas, Easter and Summer hols, plus the Tattie Hols, basically a week or fortnight in between the last week of Sept to the last week of October....iirc it starts in Aberdeenshire earlier, heading down toward Fife for the later weeks!

Easter also used to be attached to Easter, but it changed to the first two weeks of April regardless of actual Easter when mine were at primary, maybe with the |Easter Monday as a bonus if it was outwith the first two weeks of the holidays.

So I am thinking three half terms...February, May and October.

Thank you for posting this OP. I thought I was the only one. You are totally right.

It is not half term! My DH keeps doing this too! It’s the Easter holidays at the moment. Half term is in May! I also call that Whitsun but that is just met by blank looks these days

easter is easter always has been. so easter holiday.
half term is well at half term.

It’s doing my head in too! And I refuse to call it Easter half term. So when people have asked what I’m doing at half term I’ve responded about the one in May

@EthicalNonMahogany

I thought it was a MN thing too! But it's creeping in everywhere!

Until this holiday. The number of people that have asked whether my DD is on half term astounds me!

see that's my experience too. People in shops. People running the sodding easter holidays camps for the kids! And then the woman doing my bikini wax just now told me that when she was at school.(which would be about 8 years ago) everyone called end of term holidays "half term".

I don't mind change, decline and fall of civilisation etc I just object to being told it's always been this way!

You’re a better person than me, as I do mind! It’s inaccurate. It’s not half term! It’s the end of a full term!

There used to be 3 terms. Autumn, Spring, Summer. Half way through those terms there was a week break (half-term) Christmas holidays at end of Autumn, Easter at end of Spring. Summer holidays at end of Summer term/school year. A while back it was changed to 6 terms supposed to be equal length, although in practice (at least in Kent) not.

In most schools they still call end of term 1, 3 and 5 half-term. This is the Easter holidays though!

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

I suppose it depends on the age and location of those people. I was born mid eighties in England and we had 1 week half term and two weeks end of term/6 weeks summer. As it is now.

I'm almost 70 and that's how it was in the 50s where I was at school in England.

i was sure easter holidays used to be three weeks?
or am i confused.

Summer holidays6 weeks
October Half term... halfway through Autumn term
Christmas holidays
February half term halfway between Christmas and Easter
Easter holidays
May halfterm- halfway through summer term
Then back to Summer holidays.

Odd bank holiday or teacher training day.

Then last few years suddenly every holiday is a half term on here, chatting etc. But the schools still refer to them by their proper names...

I was so irritated by this that I was about to start my own thread, ITS NOT FUCKING HALF TERM!!!!!!!!!

It's absolutely everywhere, social media is full of it, loads of people talking about it 'oh what are you doing for half term?' People just call every single holiday half term, probably even the bloody summer.

Half term is the holiday HALF WAY THROUGH THE TERM, this is the end of term, so the EASTER holidays.

Argh! (Well aware I need to just breathe.)

As a child (80s Scotland) we had Easter, Christmas and summer holidays, October week and the February break. (Feb I think was a long weekend back then).
We don’t have a “half term” in the summer term due to Easter, all the May bank hols and we break up end of June in Scotland.

@Shinyandnew1

We always had half term holidays, half way through terms.

Some people have inexplicably recently started calling all holidays ‘half term’ though-not sure where it has come from.

Exactly. A holiday can't be called "half term" if it's actually between terms!

I just think it's a shorter way to refer to school holidays.

Half term is two syllables - Easter holidays is five.

That's it.