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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

675 replies

IDoughnutKnow · 26/07/2023 19:25

Unless you are a toddler and are talking about bananas.

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Luckydip1 · 27/07/2023 09:06

Maybe it's a north-south thing?

Random789 · 27/07/2023 09:08

Maybe it's a north-south thing?

I think it's more of a happens-to-call-a-grandparent-nana versus a happens-not-to thing.

Shiftingparadigm · 27/07/2023 09:10

Erm, you don't get to decide what people use. Lots of grandmothers hate the word grandma or grandmother. My mum asked specifically for 'nana' so that's what we call her.

aSofaNearYou · 27/07/2023 09:19

JMSA · 27/07/2023 07:53

I agree, it's horrid. And must make the woman feel totally ancient.

It has a far more youthful sound than gran/granny to me. Can you explain why you think the word inherently sounds older? Because as far as I'm concerned, the only thing informing which one we view as "ancient" is whether the other people we've heard use it in the past are ancient.

Bloogie · 27/07/2023 09:21

South West here - I had 2 Nana’s (known as Nana surnames) who I adored and my Mum is a Nana to my children. I would love it if my future grandchildren 🙏 called me Nana seaside (just have to move to the coast first 🤔) or I quite fancy Nonny. Definitely not Grandma or Granny. Sod off with your Nanphobia!

kayserah · 27/07/2023 09:22

I suppose if you don’t like it don’t use it.

I hate when fully grown adults call their parents Mummy and Daddy, you’re not royalty! Delusions of grandeur springs to mind

EarringsandLipstick · 27/07/2023 09:31

Random789 · 27/07/2023 09:08

Maybe it's a north-south thing?

I think it's more of a happens-to-call-a-grandparent-nana versus a happens-not-to thing.

😀

RosesAndHellebores · 27/07/2023 09:31

In our families, the grandma's, our parents, are grannie first name, the great grandma's were grannie last name. Grannie Penny/Grannie Jones.

As long as there is love it doesn't matter. I wouldn’t dream of calling my MIL "mum".

ontetwo3 · 27/07/2023 09:34

We did not use 'Nana' as children, but that meant we did not have the option of distinguishing between each set of grandparents e.g. 'Nana' for mother's mother and 'Grandma' for father's mother.

Therefore, we used surnames e.g. Grandma [mother's maiden name] and Grandma [father's surname].

In retrospect, this all seems a bit formal, and I think I would have liked to have had a 'Nana' and a 'Granny'.

My sons found the different surnames confusing, so we used places as reference e.g. 'Grandma in X village and Grandma in Y town'.

There is quite an interesting article on the link below about the possible origins of 'Nana'.

"Nana" For "Grandma" - Origin & Country Statistics (grammarhow.com)

"Nana" For "Grandma" - Origin & Country Statistics

While many of us refer to our maternal or paternal grandmother as our “Grandma”, it is also very common to utilize the term “Nana”. This often begs the question – where did the term “Nana” originate and what countries use this term in particular? What...

https://grammarhow.com/nana-grandma/

EarringsandLipstick · 27/07/2023 09:35

kayserah · 27/07/2023 09:22

I suppose if you don’t like it don’t use it.

I hate when fully grown adults call their parents Mummy and Daddy, you’re not royalty! Delusions of grandeur springs to mind

Maybe you need to take the advice you give in your first line!

People choose how they address parents / grandparents for all sorts of reasons & there's no reason to judge them.

jannier · 27/07/2023 09:38

Piggywaspushed · 27/07/2023 07:19

Scrolled through entire thread and decided no one is as classically British unaffectionate as my British family , or my DH's, who insist on calling everyone by first names. My DH calls his parents Kath and John ; my DH is so repressed he doesn't even sign his full name , just initials .He called his DM 'mother' if I recall.
Now that's proper repressed posh, OP. It ahs genuinely left me now knowing ow to address him!

(My American DM , OTOH, called both parent's mommy and daddy until they died when she was in her 50s- many Americans do)

My bil used to say Mater and Pater poor deluded fool

jannier · 27/07/2023 09:39

Luckydip1 · 27/07/2023 09:06

Maybe it's a north-south thing?

No both ends of the country use all of the terms equally you can start a regional war on that one....lol

Piggywaspushed · 27/07/2023 09:42

jannier · 27/07/2023 09:38

My bil used to say Mater and Pater poor deluded fool

Show quote history

😁

123becauseicouldntthinkofone · 27/07/2023 09:45

Ricochetsandwhich · 26/07/2023 19:28

????
I’m 50 and grew up with two Nanas. Maybe it’s regional?

Same, I am 45 and had one Nana and one Grandma

kayserah · 27/07/2023 09:50

EarringsandLipstick · 27/07/2023 09:35

Maybe you need to take the advice you give in your first line!

People choose how they address parents / grandparents for all sorts of reasons & there's no reason to judge them.

Show quote history

Yeah, I’ve taken my own advice, I don’t like it because guess what, I don’t like it. Ermmm duh

Rachie1973 · 27/07/2023 10:01

IDoughnutKnow · 26/07/2023 22:19

I think Continental sounds a bit nicer than you do at this point, Oblomov.

The normal response to reading tittish things on MN is to either say "you are a tit", or to sigh and scroll on by. I'm not sure this thread merits quite such a character assassination.

Show quote history

Especially when there seems to be little character to assassinate in the first place.

thebabessavedme · 27/07/2023 10:08

I am a 'nana', I bloody love it when a little voice says 'nana.......' So proud and pleased to have the privelidge of having a grandchild I couldn't give a bugger what I'm called. Just consider myself extremely lucky to have this little person in my life. Grin

btw, I'm also called mum, madre, mummy, mother, or my first name, don't really care so long as we have a loving relationship.

Iforgotmyusernameagainandagain · 27/07/2023 10:37

IDoughnutKnow · 26/07/2023 20:09

All that aside, it is interesting. I like things like Grump and Ganks which katiewil mentioned - the names that children come up with for grandparents and that then stick.

Mum/mom/mam has always seemed to me to be just regional variation (I shared a house with someone from NE England when I was younger).

I call my parents Mummy and Daddy and my children still call me Mummy despite being over 18. I know that's not popular on here, though.

Adult offspring calling their children Mummy brings David Walliams and bitty to mind. Yuk.

Luckydip1 · 27/07/2023 10:59

Toilet, settee, serviette, lounge, pardon, nanna...

jannier · 27/07/2023 11:09

Grandma gets eaten by wolves doesn't she.
Granny....Granny Buggins grey hair in a bun loves knitting
Grand mama....belongs to Queen Victoria
Grandmother....a stately Galleon of indeterminate age who's boobs come around the corner first striking fear in children.

Coffeaddict · 27/07/2023 11:10

Luckydip1 · 27/07/2023 08:37

This is a class thing......

No it's a dialect thing.

It has proto-celtic origins. This would mean alot of it most likely comes from descendens of celtic tribes more common in ireland and Scotland ( as many Irish have said on here it is very commonly used in ireland)

Also way to show your snobbery

AnnieSnap · 27/07/2023 11:11

pompomdaisy · 27/07/2023 06:23

When I hear it - I think it sounds kind of Irish or travelling community.

You do know these are not necessary the same right? What is your view of the Irish? 🤷‍♀️

GCSister · 27/07/2023 11:14

No it's a dialect thing.

Exactly, it's not hard to understand.

JenniferBarkley · 27/07/2023 11:17

The annoying thing is that this could have been a fun and interesting thread about names for family members as I said however many pages ago. OP starting it off the way she did just makes it yet another sneery thread.

PhantomUnicorn · 27/07/2023 11:18

omg, would people stop telling other people what honorific they can/can't use in relation to their own relatives.

I'm a brummy. I have a Mom, and a Nan/Nanny/Nana.

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