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.

I can see why 'half-term' stealthily creeps in a catchall, but its just illogical when you look at the etymology.

Illogical and frankly confusing to me at least - it does seem to be the way language is currently traveling in many areas.

This is all I have known both when I was at school (Scotland) and where I am now (London)

Summer holidays
October week (Scotland) / half term (London)
Christmas holidays
Half term (Feb)
Easter holidays
Half term (May/June)

yes it used interchangeably here for ‘school holidays’

Yes of course it’s not TECHNICALLY half term but who cares?? It really doesn’t matter!

Interesting that there are regional variations. I have not read the whole thread so someone may have mentioned this but here in Ireland we say mid-term instead of half-term. (The longer holidays are just called holidays).

Same I'm from the NE and only ever known them as oct half term, Christmas holiday, feb half term, Easter holiday, may half term, 6 week's holiday/summer holidays.

When I was at school the school year was 3 terms long, starting in September, January and April.

Term 1 had its half term in October as it was literally half way through that term, with the Christmas holiday marking the end of that term.

Term 2 started in January, so the week off in February was half term. Easter holiday marked the end of that term.

Term 3 started after Easter and the May half term was the the half way point for Term 3.. the end of which was marked with the Summer holidays.

These days we seem to have 6 terms, but still refer to the week off in Oct, Feb, May as half terms.. which makes no sense and annoys me more than it should.

Genuine regional variations are fine e.g. the different ways of describing a bread roll. If I call this a bap, because that's the term in my area, no one is in any doubt as to what I mean.

Multiple people misusing a word/phrase does not make it another right way. There is no "region" here - it's a random group of people, so a person hearing their use of the word won't know what meaning to give to it.

Teen speak is a similar concept that doesn't have a region attached. If a word is used by a teenager (particularly when talking to other teens) it might mean something different to what the standard meaning is.
"Sick" is a good example of this from a few years' ago. I would not assume the teen usage if a 70 year old I met at the bus stop used the word.

I really enjoy hearing the differences, especially those of you in Scotland.

But please.. calling people dim or stupid is unnecessary. People can have opinions without needing to put others down, it's just mumsnet.

Im from the North and my mum always used to talk about Whitsun week. Even now I have no idea when that is other than it's sometime in the first half of the year.

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.

So why don't you call the summer and Christmas holidays half term? It's completely illogical.

This was my exact thought. And it’s a bit silly to call the Easter holidays half term considering there is an actual “half term” what, 4 weeks later?

I don’t think it’s so much that people think “all holidays (except Christmas and summer) are called half term” and much more that the Easter holidays are commonly mistakenly referred to as half term. Probably because Easter is not really as at the forefront of minds, or as landmark, as Christmas or summer.

In my house it's called bloody school holidays again. 🤣

That's more related to my elderly parents living in an end of terrace and the local kids playing football against the wall though.

The UK school year has three terms, Autumn, Spring, Summer, each separated/ended by a long break, Christmas, Easter, Summer. Midway through those three terms are the shorter half term breaks. Calling all breaks half term makes a nonsense of terms. From the Midlands.

It's definitely crept in as the standard phrase for 'school holiday'.

I find it weird. THERE ARE THREE TERMS. There are only THREE HALF TERMS.

Regional or no, it drives me bonkers.

Half-term holidays are so called because they're half-way through a term. Half (a) term. Obvious.

Calling all holidays – or, even worse, some holidays – half-term is both wrong and confusing, and can't even be blamed on 'evolution of language' as perfectly adequate words for big holidays already exist.

< gavel >

People know exactly what you mean, they're just being petty.
We moved from Stoke on Trent in the 80s and my mum still called the May half-term Potters' Holidays - that really confused people and rightly so, but everyone knows what you mean by half-term.

But at what point does it become acceptable usage? How many people have to be incorrect and for how many generations until it's accepted as alright but different.

The actual definition of staycation has changed to include UK holidays because it's been widely used to mean that, regardless of the fact it's origins we're day trips while staying at home.

Well, considering the correct term is ‘barm-cake’ I have to disagree. You can’t just (wrongly) accept some regional variations and not others. There’s no planet in which ‘bap’ is correct. 😉

But why would you have a half term followed by a second half term a few weeks later? If you know what’s correct, Just say Easter holidays. The only reason to call it half term is if you don’t know or understand the difference. Would you think it’s acceptable usage to suddenly call the summer holidays half term? Just because it’s easy and everyone will know what you mean?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Bread is bread. If you tell me you’re handing me cake and give me a bloody roll I’m going to be pissed 😂

but your logic doesn't work - if you're using 'half term' to mean 'a holiday after every half of a term' then you should call Christmas and summer holidays half terms too! The fact you don't means you know it doesn't really make any sense to call the easter holidays that...

Obvs tongue in cheek but if you can call 5 out of 6 holidays correctly why not just say 'easter', it's the same amount of syllables, and actually shorter than 'half term.'

A couple of friends are from West Belfast and it's mid term there. And a few up in Portrush who also say mid term.

Scotland - never heard « half term « at all. Only in Enid Blyton books or said by presenters on the BBC programmes! Each holiday has a name - September weekend, the October week, Easter hols. Still sounds English to me.

The February one is actually the only actual half term that exists and that didn’t exist when I was a kid. But even nowadays as a parent I generally hear it called “the February holiday/break/week”.

But it isn't exactly what you mean, given that you don't call the Christmas and summer holidays half terms.

Increasingly in lots of areas there are now 6 terms. Does that not mean that by half term logic there would no longer be any half terms? Because the week in Feb, May and October wouldn't be in the middle of a term anymore?