To be shocked that not even one y4 child knew the meaning of the word velvet?

[Utterlybananas333]

My sister is a teacher in a South London primary school, she is a year four teacher of around 30 8 to 9-year-olds. She was recently describing her disbelief over the fact that not a single child knew what velvet meant? There were some crazy guesses, and lots of children who thought it was cake (probably relating to red velvet). Is it just the fact that children and adults don't talk anymore? That nobody reads anymore? Or even watches educational TV programs? Would your child know?

It will mostly be velour in lots of cases. My daughter knows what that is as she’s had velour trousers/tracksuits in the past. She said is velvet something soft (velvety) when I asked but didn’t realise it was an actual fabric.

I think that would have been quite beyond our budget growing up, sorry. Terribly middle class.

Lots of people! I’ve worn velvet twice this week and consider myself reasonably stylish!!

Year 4 child at home, asked her and she said it is a type of material and pointed at our couch which is velvet. She also said there is red velvet cake.

Just asked 6yo DS and he answered "it's a kind of soft fabric". But I wore a velvet/faux velvet dress on Xmas day and that might be in his mind!

I wouldn't be surprised that an 8yo didn't know the meaning. I am surprised that no 8yo in a class of 30 knew the meaning.

Just asked my 5 and 11 year old and 11 year old cousin, none of them knew! Bonkers. We have loads of velvet in the house too.

No one on here goes into actual shops anymore, they all buy online, their children won't know what department store means 😂

But it's not part of kids conversation these days. When I was a child, velvet party dresses for little girls were very common, but now velvet is mostly worn by adults for evening wear. I personally have no velvet furnishings in the house, whereas my parents had velvet curtains and a velvet sofa.

My children read very widely. But it's just not something that's of much relevance to them.

@Utterlybananas333 Is it just the fact that children and adults don't talk anymore? That nobody reads anymore? Or even watches educational TV programs? Would your child know?

Here's my own take on this (someone else has probably already alluded to what I'm about to say).

When we were children, and we were bored, we would have read whatever book was available, or read whatever magazine was available, or watched whatever TV show was available. Because we were engaging with whatever media was available, rather than the media we actually wanted, that meant we were hoovering up lots of random knowledge that we never would have been exposed to otherwise.

Nowadays with the internet, children only engage with media that they want to engage with. They won't watch a random show (for example) on space and astronomy on TV intended for a general audience, and instead, they will just watch videos about children's games like Minecraft and Fortnite, because they are able to see these at any time. So because children are engaging with media in a much more targetted way, they have lost a lot of general knowledge that previous generations would have had.

As for the word "velvet"... as a child, I picked this up from the Galaxy advert. Why have velvet when you can have silk? Again, random knowledge acquired from watching TV.

We all wear velvet round here. Ladies stroll around in their velvet capes and small boys run around in their velvet breeches. A man's wardrobe is incomplete without at least one velvet waistcoat

I wonder if some of them did know, but were too timid to put their hand up and say so or risk getting it wrong. I sometimes felt like that at school with certain teachers.

My children don't spend any time in department stores, that's true.

I don't think year 4s should know what a knocking shop is!

DS (7 y2) knows what velvet is (just asked him) we do have velvet curtains and cushions, I also wore a velvet dress to a Christmas party and he told me I looked very lovely like the new curtains 😂. He also reads a lot of Enid blyton which probably helps.

He is now regaling me with what velcro is and how it was invented....

I've just asked my 4 and 6 year old some of the words in this thread:
Yes: Hedgehog, hedge, handkerchief, cotton (eventually - we talked about material, and different types of fabric)
No - velvet and petticoat

@BackToLurk Try:
Wireless
Continental quilt
Knocking shop
Norks

I'm in my 30s. Of those words, I only know what "wireless" means.

Clearly my budget is not "mainstream", I've never bought anything from Toast and certainly wouldnt spend that much on a bedspread

Oh, that is a quilt. Certainly what I would describe it as. Our versions of that would NEVER have been made of velvet though. As I said, more likely manmade fibres all the way. And that isn't what I'd think of when I talked about velvet. I'd still also say that is quite expensive now, tbh.

My granddaughter aged 9 says it’s a princess dress or fancy curtains …

Whereas in my 50s, I know them all. Yay, Gen X!

Was talking to my DS about some North East new year's customs and had to explain both coal fires and coal mining. His great grand parents on both sides (miners and coal merchants!) would have been turning in their graves.

I don't think he's ever seen a real piece of coal, and was fascinated by my accounts of getting the coal in from the shed as a childhood chore!

That's nothing I was talking to a 10 year old the other day (not mine) and they thought in an emergency you call 911. Where in england

Doesn’t wash 😂 If they’re on Instagram, then they’re constantly seeing gray velvet! Joking aside, seriously, plenty of the clothes on Instagram ads are made of velvet, so I’m just not seeing this; seems likely that they’ve seen it at some point? As for the Velveteen Rabbit, no. It’s a British book. I was given a copy with a matching velvet plush rabbit when I was 6. And now, almost four decades later, I’ve just bought a cotton velvet washing bag, which was on a very popular makeup site, so it’s not just clothes, sofas, and curtains.

I assume the men also wear monogrammed velvet slippers too?

I just asked my 8 yo and she knew what velvet was. I can’t say if my 6 yo would have known because 8 yo answered in front of her but I think she would have. Velvet is everywhere at the minute so I would have thought they’d know tbh!