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?

It's 11.12 am in the UK. I'm not losing any sleep.
Mumsnet is a hobby for some people btw. You may - or may not - approve.

To me "Half Term" means it's (roughly) half way through the term. If it comes at the end of one term, then it's not half term. It's a proper holiday.

Yes it really riles me. My eldest is in year 8 and I never heard anyone call the main holidays half terms as she was going through primary but my youngest is in year 2 and lots of parents say this now. I do correct them.

@Lifeinlists if sitting on mumsnet being upset about Easter holidays being referred to as half term is a hobby then that's pretty sad.

But spending time on Mumsnet telling people off for spending time on here talking about the wrong things is a good use of your time?

People are thick.

It's Easter holidays yes but it's stupid being annoyed by some people calling it half term. Get a life 🙄

Glad it's not just me who is sitting on my hands to stop myself from commenting on people's posts!

Good luck getting much done in life if all the parents suddenly stop working (sorry... mothers, obvs).

Being on Mumsnet is the hobby (for some people).
Nomenclature of school holidays is the current discussion on this thread.

No one is 'upset'. Puzzled, confused, irritated, amused or even bored are probably more accurate.

Apart from castigating others for taking part, what was your point?

This is my pet peeve!

Yes, I guess technically this is incorrect but I suppose in many people's eyes, any holidays whether half term or end of term are synonymous with a break. Most people wouldn't be thinking: oh wait, we are only half way through the Egyptians/photosynthesis/whatever the kids are doing, the term is clearly not over, it is only half term.
Schools could scrap the notion of terms altogether and that would have no effect on much really. As for confusion, well fine, those who use half-term are in the wrong but I couldn't get particularly worked up about it.

Some universities have terms, some have semesters. Do you correct your children and fellow parents if they use the wrong terminology? This could mean students missing their exams but really the onus is on them to double check.

But even easier to say "Can't wait until the holidays".

Can’t believe how many people are annoyed by this! I call every holiday half term have two primary aged DC think it’s quite normal.

It causes confusion unnecessarily. If someone tells me now that they're planning to go away for half term, I assume they mean the end of May, not Easter.

No, Christmas, Easter and summer are at the end of term, not half way through.

Happy Easter Half term everyone ! Enjoy the time off teachers !!

Exactly! Our Easter school Hols start on Friday this year too.

lol Ive just popped on mumsnet on my lunch break and seen this .
A senior colleague has just spoken to me about what we’re doing after the ‘half term holiday ‘ -I raised my eyebrows but didn’t correct her.
Guess what job we do - yes that’s right we’re teachers !
If teachers can’t get it right what hope for anyone else

Most people wouldn't be thinking: oh wait, we are only half way through the Egyptians/photosynthesis/whatever the kids are doing, the term is clearly not over, it is only half term.

But surely the vast majority of parents/people went to school themselves, so they know what is a half term holiday (a week in the middle of term) and what is a Christmas/Easter/summer holiday (two weeks or longer, at the end of term). They don't have to work it out!

Yes I’ve seen people mention this online. And then people will reply saying that’s weird how is your area only on half term now- our half term was ages ago etc

It’s not half term that’s why!! How can end of term be a half 🙈

I really don’t care. It’s half term for me.

I've never heard of this. Why not just say happy holidays like the Americans do?

It's like people that say three semesters instead of terms - the clue is in the name, you can't have more than two in a year!!!

Definitely not half term given it marks the end of a term…