Living at home

[redskyAtNigh]

Am I the only one who really detests the phrase "living at home" when used to mean "living in your childhood home when you are an adult"?

Virtually everyone lives at home (homeless and sofa surfers excepted). If you are an adult who lives in a permanent residence that is not with your parents, you also "live at home". A home is, pretty much by definition, the place where you live.

I used to be asked if I was going home for Christmas. By which was meant, was I going to my parents’ house

My dad and his brother always called going to visit their old mum “going round home” although they’d never lived in that particular home x

I still “go home” to my parents’ house Wales after 30 years of living in England. It’s not even the house I grew up in.

That question doesn't make any sense unless you've actually moved away in the first place. If you still live reasonably close to your parents so you can see them throughout the year, it's not 'going home' when you see them at Christmas, it's just visiting, like you do at other times.

I had no idea what they were asking the first time someone asked me that.

I have always understood this mean visiting your parents with an assumption that your parents still live in the locale (or house) that you grew up in. But obviously that doesn’t apply to everyone.

I think it's well recognised shorthand for remaining in or returning to the mothership, so I have no problem with it.

I don't mind this at all and find it quite an interesting insight into people's psyches. IME there's a point at which people switch from referring to their parents' home as "home"- tends to be late 20s or when they have their own children.

This.

"Home is where your mom is"❤️

Our two were both born abroad but when we came to UK on holiday and they talked about 'going home' at the end my mother would tell them they weren't going home, England was their home, even though they'd never lived here.
In letters, it was a long time ago, my Dad always wrote Home when referring to my parent's home.

It's not wrong - it conveys a certain meaning which people understand. Like they understand when you "leave home"- that doesn't mean you're not going to another house (which will also be your home)

I agree. My house is where my DC come ‘home’ to.As students who have their own places but these are pretty transient. Even when they have permanent homes of their own, I shall ask them if they are ‘coming home for Christmas’.
‘Home’ should be the one place where you are welcome with no strings attached, at any time of life.

A house isn’t always a home.

Living in halls, lodging or housesharing isn’t really permanent so going “home” at Christmas makes sense in that case.
Then there’s the parents’ point of view: “Our grownup daughter’s living at home (with us) because she needed to escape a violent relationship.”

DM nearly freaked out when I said “I’ll ring you when I get home.” in 2nd year of university. But I was the last of 4 and she must have been feeling the empty nest!

I know it's not exactly an idiom, but many phrases and idioms don't make literal sense - that's one of the fascinating things about our use of language, I think.