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.

But it makes zero sense. Half term = half way through a term so February, October, May (if you are in England). The END of term is Christmas, Easter, Summer. So therefore you have the Christmas holidays, Easter holidays, Summer holidays.

Nobody on any planet would say on 24th December "it's the half term holidays". Or at the end of June/July "it's the half-term holidays next week". Or if they do, they are a bit dim.

I'd agree with that.

It reminds me a bit of the "would of" and "chester draws" in that it's clearly wrong if you think about it, but the more people use it, the more people don't recognise it as wrong.

In my experience it just used to be a few people playing fast and loose with the meaning of words. However, round my way the break between the Winter and Spring terms doesn't necessarily happen at Easter any more, so Easter holiday doesn't make sense. I've heard lots of people say half term and they aren't more wrong that the people saying Easter holidays (which have finished here). We need a new phrase but in the meantime half term is filling the void.

Nowhere more Midlands than where I live and any school holiday that's not Summer, Christmas or Easter is always referred to as 'Half Term'.
Saves confusion

I used to love tattie picking for the ££s loved less having a younger sibling as I’d have to help them do their row before the tractor came back around.

Neither have I. I went to school in the SE and have taught in London and Derbyshire.

I’ve never heard that. It doesn’t make sense though - half term means you’re half way through a term. If it’s a school holiday that isn’t half term, you’re between two terms, or half way through one.

By NE do you mean the North East, if so I can tell you that it's definitely not a universal thing, I was talking to a friend last week about the Easter holiday dates, she's in the NE and doesn't say half term.

Who knew that people don't all say the same thing 😁

Nobody where I am calls them all half-term (north west) and nobody where I’m originally from does, either (south east).

Exactly this. It seems to be the Easter holidays that cop for the false "half term" nonsense and (lightheartedly) it's very irritating at the moment! It's obvious that the three half terms we have are October, February and May, half way through the Autumn, Spring and Summer school terms. Anything else is just wrong.

can I just throw in mid term? Used by quite a few people I know

NO-ONE I know has ever called the Easter holidays 'half term.' Only on Mumsnet do I hear this... Why call it half term? That's 100% wrong. It's the Easter holidays!

Why not call the Christmas holidays and Summer holidays half term as well?! Batshit!

@Acc0untant in scotland, easter holidays, october fast, summer holidays, christmas holidays and a half term in feb some time which is really a long weekend! october fast in olden days used to be called the tattie holidays when families would all go to the fields and pick tatties to make money and the farmers needed people to pick the potatoes!

As long as they're talking about helf term that makes sense as the week is mid way through the term, if they're talking about a holiday between terms then it doesn't

I'm Midlands raised and half terms were the weeks holiday in the middle of each term.
Other holidays (ie the longer ones) were summer, Easter and Christmas!!

This,

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

There can be regional difference in language and customs however I have encountered people who insist all hoildays have always been refered to as half terms in this area but I know that's not true - it grates to my ear so I heard the change happening.

I think it's some sort of language change possibly led by schools or picked up by them and run with and many younger people hear it and just assume it's always been that way.

I heard the staycation change in covid - we do UK hoildays and according to some posters since then my kids have never been on hoilday in their lives as staycations which to them are UK breaks to them aren't hoildays. Prior to this never encountered idea that UK hoildays were not holidays. They'll argue their definition was always what it meant - when it used to mean staying at your home and doing days out.

I think as half term lengths have started to vary anyway in some areas perhaps half term being a week in length and breaking up a term was always going to change in meaning - but as schools have also changed way they refer to terms and half terms that's just spread and changed the language accordingly.

Yes, I always called all school holidays (except summer) "half-term"! That is, until my friend picked me up on it last Easter... Now I try not to say it when it's not literally half-term, it but it's hard! (Originally from West Yorkshire, now live down south...)

YABU 🤷🏻‍♀️
Half term is exactly that (1 week) between terms.
Easter holidays are 2 weeks and not half term.

The Midlands is a big place, but I had my whole education in a part of it and they can be a bit odd. For example I went to a first school, middle school and high school. When I went to uni everyone thought I was a weirdo and trying to be American by calling it a 'High School' but it was literally in it's name! Most other people called there 'high' schools Secondary or comp. Also, we didn't go to the high school until year 8, something a recruiter called me up and called me a liar over once while checking an application, they couldn't understand not going to secondary school until year 8 when everyone else went up in year 7. We also had grammar schools which not everyone does. I think the 'High' thing might be more common now.

What I'm saying is the Midlands can be weird. But also, wherever you are they are wrong. You have October half term, Christmas holidays or break, February half term, Easter holidays or break, May Half term/Whitsun (Whitsun tends to be called so by older generations from my experience) then the Summer holidays. 😀

Must be regional. It’s half term half way through each term and it’s Christmas holidays, Easter holidays and summer holidays, or holidays for short!

I went to school in South London, DH went to school in Northumberland and DD went to school in South Yorkshire. It has always been Christmas, Easter and summer holidays with half terms roughly halfway between each holiday in these areas.

The clue is in the name.

I have 2. As do friends/family. They all say this.

My Belfast friends say mid term :)

I totally agree with the use of 'staycation', I really hate it. As if a UK holiday can't be a holiday. To me, a staycation would be staying at home and going on day trips or something special at home.