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When did we adopt Nan instead of Gran?
My partner is quite touchy about it, she prefers to be called Nan or Nanny instead of Gran or Granny, and if anyone calls her Gran she hates it, she said it makes her sound old.
But I always thought a Nanny was someone rich people hired to clean their house, it seems odd to me using Nanny instead of Granny.
Not sure what decade this started as it just seems to have crept up on us.
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I remember watching the tv program Butterflies, and the family in that used to have a Nanny that cleaned the house, they described her as Nanny, but it couldn't have been to look after the kids as they were already grown men.
And in Asian countries like the Philippines they call hired cleaners Helpers. They almost become like a member of the family as they are so cheap to hire.
It just confuses me why would a woman who has grandchildren preferred to be called Nanny, especially as Nanny is related to someone who does a very low type of job. Or even Nanny goat.
What is so wrong with Granny?
My husbands grandparents were known by him as Nana and Grandad. My grandparents, all of them, were known as Grandma and Grandad to me.
We're known by all our grandchildren as Grandma and Grandad, some of the children call their other grandparents Granny, Grandpa,Poppop, Nanny.
Personally I don't think it matters what grandparents are known as, there are no rules, we just decided we'd be Grandma and Grandad, and that's what we are.
237SJ,
I was born in the late 60's and although I know the term Nanny isn't new as such. I would say I first heard it used about 20 years ago, but it is relatively a modern use of the word.
I just am very baffled why this has crept into families lives, and why did Gran become old fashioned. I find it quite sad in a way
I'm baffled on how you could possibly think calling a grandmother Nan or Nanny has crept into modern life. My paternal grandmother wanted to be called Nan and if she were still alive she'd be about 120. Nan, Nanny or Nana have been used for decades as a name for a grandmother (as well as someone who looks after 'rich' people's babies!!)
Nope - poor old Chazza - Prince Chazza that is! asked a mature leddy ( soon after he left Bangor) " are you his Nana?"
and was ridiculed for years over nannies in wales. A courtier explained that Nana was used in Welsh Wales look you ! for 'grandmother' ( I bet Sir Chomondeley Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes put on a welsh-wales accent for that one - Twizzie to his frenz)
so as Chazza might have written in his uni finals : "The Gran-Nan linguistic dichotomy is by no means settled. Linguistic change is faster at the perceived centre of a language and we can conclude
We had Nanny Surname back in the 60's, but when my mother became a grandmother in the 90's she wanted to be Grandma. Now I am grandmother and called Nana Maydup.
Surely like other things, its a matter of choice?
Granny has always felt the most old fashioned to me and brings to mind a very old white haired lady in a hand knitted cardy!
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