It's not bloody half term!

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Why / when did every school holiday become half term?

The half term holidays are February, Whitsun and October, not Easter, Christmas and thr summer.

People keep saying "Happy half term" or "Enjoy the half term" etc. Why is this an accepted thing?

Because 'half term' has, like language does, changed to mean a holiday from school. In the North of England this has been the case since I was at school.

I'm honestly flabbergasted so many people have so little to focus on that this bothers them so much. Language adapts. And on top of that, it IS the end of half of a term if you want to get really pedantic which apparently you do.

Whitsuntide is the later May bank holiday. I think. Where I grew up (North England) may half term was called "whit". Or whit week. Only elderly folks seems to still say it but we know what it means.

There's another thread running just now with people outraged that people pronounce the letter 'H' differently 😳

@RoomOfRequirement when were you at school?

'Half' usually refers to splitting a whole in two so, in this case, a half term holiday is in the middle of a whole term.

Maybe the concept of 'half' has adapted?

It's bloody irritating, and I no longer even have school age children. It has been going on for some years as far as I can remember. My DH always did it too, which made me want to scream.

Half term is the week's break halfway through the term. The clue is actually in the name if people bother to think about it. The other holidays are the summer holiday, the Christmas holiday and the Easter holiday. It really isn't difficult, except to some idiots.

I'm retired from teaching and it STILL annoys me!

Don't make me do that math 😂

There are 6 half terms in a school year (the actual weeks of school, not the holidays).

So there's nothing wrong with calling the holiday half term, when you have just finished a half term of school.

Again, if we want to get pedantic.

In the real world this doesn't matter in the slightest and people can call it whatever they want - and people understand because it's accepted usage.

@RoomOfRequirement
it's accepted usage

If you say so * *

It was always 'Maths' in the north of England* *when I was there. Has that adapted too?

When I taught we had two full school assemblies of 1,000 students plus staff, one in December, the other in July. The RE teachers always noticed and remarked that there was no reference by the head (a Catholic) to Jesus at the first. Presumably he was aiming to be sensitive to the three Muslims in the school but they also celebrated Christmas. I prefer their stance to his. It doesn’t surprise me that names of terms which link to Christian festivals is changing. It saddens me.

I kind of get it, although I agree it is wrong.

I assume it is because we have six half term periods of teaching in a school year, and the term for the holidays has got a bit confused.

I rigidly stick to half term only for the original meaning, the week off in the middle.

Haha I do it (and annoy myself), but it's just easier to say half term for all of them than remembering the specific break. But I do say summer hols since it's a long one.

Maybe he didn't want to bang on about Jesus? He might have wanted to talk about something else?

I work in a private school. The three terms are known as Michaelmas, Lent and Trinity. We’ve just finished Lent term and are in Easter holidays now. Half terms are definitely the break midway through a full term eg end of may /beginning June.

Teachically, you're right and it's an END of term holiday. But I'm a teacher and think it's been pretty acceptable for a while to use 'half-term' as a generic phrase. Honestly, I can't get worked up over this. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I mean, there are teachers here saying it's in their actual work calendars as half term, so yes. It doesn't really matter if some people don't like it. It is now widely accepted use.

And maths is the subject/lesson. In the context I used it, 'do that maths' doesn't make grammatical sense, 'do the math' sounds better.

It's maddening, and to those who think it's not a big deal, it can lead to confusion.

If last week someone had said to me 'let's do that at half term' I'd have assumed that they meant at the end of May. When it's half term. But they may well, it turns out, have meant next week.

Schools even using this inaccuracy is really irritating.

Seriously, who even cares about stuff like this 🙄 well obviously you all do, but why?

I find it irritating too. I know it's not a biggie in the scheme of things, but really, is it that hard to know the difference between a half term holiday and an in-between holiday?

Not sure what the issue is with saying Easter. We are quite happy to refer to other religions and festivities. But spring break is fine too. Just not half term, because it isn't. Where I live, the last week of the spring term is this week, and the summer term starts in the middle of April.

@LightSwerve he slithered every which way round the name. It was very noticeable. To have mentioned Jesus once wouldn’t have been banging on about Him.

Because it's inaccurate and confusing. People plan ahead so when someone asked me in early March if we were free at half-term inassumed they mean the end of May given that that's actually half-term. Turns out they meant the Easter holidays.

Using the wrong name for something is just unhelpful.

Not sure what the issue is with saying Easter. We are quite happy to refer to other religions and festivities.
Exactly.

It’s been explained several times. Because it’s ambiguous and leads to confusion.

@RoomOfRequirement

'do the math' sounds American to me. Probably because it is. But if that sounds more grammatical, so be it.

When people use imprecise words for things as it makes it harder to understand what they are talking about.

Obviously I don't correct people (pedantry is extremely rude, IMO) but it has been Summer hols, half term, Christmas hols, half term, Easter hols, half term for a long time and that makes it easier to understand WTF someone is talking about.

But that was his choice, you've interpreted it with no evidence.

You have chosen to make it about Muslims, which is why I was