To wish people wouldn't use the word "nana"

[IDoughnutKnow]

Unless you are a toddler and are talking about bananas.

People never used it back in the good old days of MN.

Both my family and my husband’s family all use Nana for our mum’s. Mine in particular was quite a young grandmother and didn’t want to be called grandma or granny.

Nana is sweet. When we are talking about them we say ‘Nana (their name)’ so we know who we’re talking about.

I mean the good old days of MN.

It's funny that someone mentioned the Whitehalls, as we are acquainted.

OP if you really are of the ilk that hires a nanny, and has some tumbling mansion in Somerset, then fair enough to the ‘mummy’ and ‘grandmama’.

But I think it’s unlikely! I happen to move in such circles (though I am of the ‘mom and nanny’ nomenclature born). I have a horse - those circles often include gentry. And I can tell you, the genuinely ‘old money’ people I know are the least snobby. They would be horrified at the idea of either judging the ‘moms and nanas’ or being judged for the ‘mummy’s’. What they would judge is the pathetic fool trying to BECOME them/pretend to BE them by adopting what they perceive to be their language. I know they’d find that pathetic.

Then like most snobbery, it's probably best to keep these thoughts in your head if it's causing you this much annoyance. 😆

Nana I can live with. My MIL was a nana. My mum and grandmother were grandma’s. I will be a grandma but Nan is dreadful though but luckily not really used here. It’s all grandmas, some nana’s, the odd Oma, nonna and Safta

I call my parents Mummy and Daddy and my children still call me Mummy despite being over 18

🤮🤮🤮

That gives me the ick.

Nana is pronounced Nan-ah
Banana is pronounced Ban-ar-nah were I come from so completely different , I'm not sure why you find it odd
Where are you from where they sound the same @IDoughnutKnow ?

What a ridiculous post . My kids call my mum nana and all her grandchildren do the same even the 23 year old !

I live 40 mins north of Cambridge and often call my mum ‘mummy’. Not in a posh way - just coz she is my mummy. I’m mid 40’s.
As my friend in France said, they only have one word to call their mother and it’s Maman - they say that word all their life, it doesn’t change when they reach adulthood.

I always called my grandmother Nanny, followed by her last name, as did my kids.
I also have ‘tea’ for dinner at night.

But your snobbery is vile OP. You think that using ‘Nana’ is a signifier of being a lower class than you. And you don’t like such people.

@BeardyButton It's a mistake and a cliché to think that "old money" (as you call it) people are never, ever snobby. Some are so snobby that they don't even realise it, because they take their snobby views for complete truths. Some are genuinely, 100% not snobby. Some know they are snobby and enjoy it. Just like everyone else, really.

We can’t all be southern and middle-class sorry

So it’s annoyance at Mn not being mc enough anymore?

My mom wanted to be Nana to her D-GC, back when I had babies ~ year 2000

I had a Nana, I’m in my mid 30’s.

I do find the insistence that the upper classes are not snobby bizarre. They most certainly are! They might keep their views politely to themselves for the most part when not around their usual social circles but that’s just it. They are being polite.

It's funny that someone mentioned the Whitehalls, as we are acquainted

It's funny that you're 'acquainted' with the Whitehall's, because they also give me the ick.

As my friend in France said, they only have one word to call their mother and it’s Maman

The French branch of my family have a Ma (and Pa)

My dear old long-dead nana was always 'Nana' to me, and I feel strangely, gut-deeply furious at this dissing of the word. Shame on you, op!

Her husband, my grandfather, was always 'Grancher' to me (not sure of the spelling) - a contraction of grandsire I suppose. I googled it recently and it seems to be predominently Welsh, which is interesting as my family was just the other side of the Severn Estuary, in Somerset.

My experience OP is that they are mostly snobby agn people like you! The ones that think they can truly enter their circles through having a bit of money, sending their kids to private school, talking posh and bitching about the plebs.

And my experience is that often the aspirational (basically you) are snobby agn what they see in themselves - the fact they are only one step away from using ‘mana’ for a relative as opposed to the hired help.

Honestly OP, there’s no need for all the self hatred. Just live and let live. Possibly you ll never be truly accepted into the circles you aspire to move in. But who cares! Life is short!

That’s sweet too

we share the same background.

Because we're sick and fucking tired of being told that the way we speak isn't acceptable - even when it's correct, it's just not how people speak in the (small, not very diverse) place the OP has (always) lived.

If it's not Nana it's haitch or gotten or Mam or Santa or Halloween.

You don't get to be a vile snob and borderline racist and then play the faux "isn't language interesting" game. That's not what your OP said. A light hearted "What does everyone call their grandmother" thread would have been much more interesting and entertaining but instead we have yet more of the same old snobbery and I'm fucking sick of it.

I like it.

The OPs comments remind me of the Amanda character from motherland. So worried about class and social status that difference and rich culture upset her, to the point she’s thoughtless and unkind to those she perceives as being beneath her. Personally, I prefer Liz!

They are pronounced the same where I come from.