We call them all "half term" here..

[Acc0untant]

And apparently I'm unreasonable. I see comment after comment about "it's not half term, that happens half way through each term" but ever since I was a child I, and everyone I know, calls each holiday a half term other than summer and Christmas. My parents and the parents of my friends (bearing in mind I'm in my 30s) have always done this.

Is it regional? I'm in the midlands. It's not just students/parents here, teachers use it this way, our school communications. Not even just my experience with one school, it was the same at my secondary school, my daughter's primary and secondary, my other child's nursery etc.

For us this is because we have a holiday after every half of a term, not that the holiday is half way within the term.

I appreciate that this wasn't the original intention of the phrase but at what point do we accept it's fine to use? Same as staycation originally meaning to do day trips from home rather than a UK holiday, it's now been used for both for so long that it's colloquially acceptable for both meanings.

Please no bun fights, I can't be bothered. I appreciate the pedantry with things such as this (and I can be that way with other stuff) but I'd really just like a nice, chilled conversation about it.

Do you say half term for almost all holidays? What region are you from? Would enjoy seeing if there's a correlation.

No we don’t.

we get 3 days for the feb break.

our summer holidays start about 4 weeks after the May long weekend so no point being off for longer then.

YABU. It’s particularly unhelpful if you’re talking to people who don’t have kids who might want to know it’s not just a week’s break.

I grew up in midlands as did DH - used Whitsun for may half term name - but never had this calling all hoildays half term and hadn't reached another bit of midlands when then lived in with kids who went to school in that area.

Then we moved decade a go to south wales and few years in parents and then teachers started occasionally referring to 2 week end of term hoildays as half term. Have to admit first time I heard Easter refered to as half term was confused and assume the parent was a bit dim - then it started coming from the school as well.

I think it's some sort of language change that's not really regional but more age related though patchy in take up. I do find it less precise and more confusing but seems to be the direction of travel language wise.

Out head will welcome us back next week hoping that we're rested and ready for another busy half term. In schools the half (a) term is when it's open and the calendar is split into six of them - exams start for year 11 next half term, the one after that will be all about year 6 transition etc.

I know it as Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays, with October, February and May being half term, as they are halfway through the term. Easter is at the end of the Spring term/beginning of the Summer term, so it's not halfway through any of them.

Never heard the phrase until I moved away from Scotland!

I'm Essex, and call it half term, even though it's actually end of term.
So does pretty much everyone I work with, on a school.

I'm from Cardiff and it's always been half term here apart from Summer and Christmas.

These kind of threads always come up with "its regional" for something that is just factually wrong.

Terms in England are September - December, January - Easter, Easter to July. As a rule of thumb, there are holidays of 2 weeks at Christmas and Easter, and 6 weeks in summer. The 1 week holidays that come in October, February and May are half way through the term, hence the name 'half-term'.

Its pretty inconsequential getting things wrong, but if we want to be correct, here it is.

It's only half term of the spring and summer are one term.
Then the February half term should be quarter term, and Witsun half term, the three quarters.

So fine, rename Easter if you want, but then you need to rename the others.
I've only really heard it called half term on MN, having lived in various places too.

I'm in the Midlands, both parents were teachers and I've never heard of the Easter holiday being anything but the Easter holiday. Literally never heard anyone call it half term either when I was at school or when my own kids were at school here.

Summer, Christmas and Easter holidays plus three half terms in Oct, Feb and May.

but ever since I was a child I, and everyone I know, calls each holiday a half term other than summer and Christmas. So, just easter then??

Everyone knows what you mean by 'half term', it's just like saying 'school holidays'. If anyone cares then they need to get a life TBH.

My DC do this and I correct them! I can see why it confuses them though as their schools have moved from 3 terms to 6, so half term doesn't mean the same in context.

It's still half term to me though, plus Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays.

I’m from the midlands and say half term for them all too. Even easter. Always have

It's just innaccurate? Half term comes halfway through a term. Holidays between terms aren't half terms.

I mean I don't care really, but it's nonsensical.

I'm from Yorkshire and it was unfamiliar to me till lately.

If you think that’s bad in my area they don’t call them half terms at all instead we have six “terms” a year which is just ridiculous.

Yes, good times 😂 My DH was horrified when I described my tattie picking days😂

Ha I spelt inaccurate inaccurately.

Ahh this makes sense then. I’m not sure which model I’d prefer to be honest! Do you find the longer summer makes the shorter mid-year breaks worthwhile?

But it very easily could cause confusion, couldn’t it? If we are having a conversation in say, November, and we are both referencing half term, one of us would mean February (original/correct definition) but the other could understand the meaning of half-term to be the Christmas holiday (new meaning).

Or for some inexplicable reason don't know what the word half means.

It's another one of those things that make no sense but rather than accepting that people try to justify with "regional" like the whole population of an area never moves around and is a bit stupid

Half term is halfway through the term. End of term holiday - Christmas/Easter/Summer are not halfway through so the language makes no sense. It annoys me but I ignore because I like having friends and pedants aren’t usually popular.

I'm guilty of using half term for Easter and have to correct myself all the time.

I think for us it's because we never do anything special in Feb half term holiday, DH and I are always working through it so it goes by fairly unnoticed, also Easter isn't really a big deal in our house other than a bit of chocolate but it feels like the first break after Xmas as DH and I get some BHs off work.

The Summer Hols are end of the school year so a big deal and Xmas is a big celebration where DH and I are also off work for a couple of weeks so feels like an end of term break IYSWIM.

I’m in the West of England. I’ve never heard anyone here refer to the Easter Hol as Half Term, not now and not when I was a child.

It’s always been the three school holidays - Christmas, Easter and Summer - plus three Half Terms, half way through the Autumn Term, half way through the Spring Term, and half way through the Summer Term.

So, yes, sounds like a regional thing.

I’m the opposite it’s a holiday, in service , half term, full term, May Day whatever if kids are scheduled to be off it’s a holiday.