[English] Grandmothers

[karohemd]

I'm always getting confused with "gran" and "nan". Are the two synonymous or is one the mother's and the other the father's mother?

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

As far as I know they are the same thing, although there are class and regional differences in their use.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Thanks.
In almost related news, my letter selection in our current game has been really bad, now I don't have any vowels left. Gaaah!

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, I have had the Q in four of five games.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

That's because I've had them all! No consonants at all, for ages!

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

I think they mean the same thing, though I suspect their use is one of the many "class indicator" words, like sofa and settee, napkin and serviette. lav and toilet.
Boggling stuff once you start to dig into the hidden agendas.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods* Which is which, though?
Thinking about it, it could also be a regional variation. I think I've heard more Northerners use "nan" while Southerners tend to use "gran".

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

You've got it spot on. I'm a Northerner, and I had a Nanny and a Nana...

[kingnat.livejournal.com]

But Joe Rooney's hardly a Northerner, and he used the term Nan.

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

Thing is, although they're commonly used in an interchangable fashion, both the sofa/settee and the napkin/serviette dichotomies actually signify a functional difference. Buggered if I can remember which one is which, though.

[chriscologne.livejournal.com]

Yup - they are synonymous.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

What They Said.

Gran wanted to be called Gran when I was born, so she was. Likewise, Nanny & Pop chose those names for themselves (and they were thorough South Londoners).

as above

[reindeerflotila.livejournal.com]

Gran, Granny, Nan and Nanny (unless a Nanny in the Governess type sense), are all the same.

The class indicator is a bit inaccurate given that there is a significant chance of your assumptions being incorrect.

Re: as above

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

And Nanna, and Grandma.

[susanofstohelit.livejournal.com]

those are both very british too - americans usually (at least in my region of the country) use grandma.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Yes, I should have specified that. I don't think I've heard American use either.

american

[jupiter-jones.livejournal.com]

ross and monica on friends have a nana as far as i remember.

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

Class indicators: I once saw an "are you a chav?" quiz that gave you a chav-point if you referred to one (or both) of your parents' mothers as "nan."

My family's always referred to such relatives as nan. But my family's pretty working class, I guess.

[nikkita422.livejournal.com]

As a Latin American, I can say that we either use Nana (pr: nah nah) or Abuela for grandmother. Abuela tends to be used among Latins who speak Spanish as their first language. Nana, thus, being sometimes more pretentious.

*different topic* My Nana didn't teach her children spanish first growing up because she feared a stigma on them by society if they developed accented English. As a result, my generation weren't taught spanish at all. Our parents forgot how to speak fluently by the time they had us.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

That's rather sad, actually.
Making sure your offspring has it easier to get on is one thing, completely ignoring their heritage something completely different. A couple of years ago, the last person to actually speak Mansk (the original language of the Isle of Man) died and with him the language as nobody else bothered to keep it alive. Other minority languages around the world will follow and then in the next couple of centuries, the whole world will speak only one language (if it still exists then).

[nikkita422.livejournal.com]

My children are learning other languages. Veronica likes Spanish. Matthew likes French. :)

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Excellent.

[chrisvenus]

Why is it sad if everybody in the world speaks one language and thus there are no barriers to understanding?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

A common language is by all means a great thing but if the individual languages die out, it's sad.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

As an example, when I was in school, I was one of the few classmates who could speak the local dialect properly because the others' parents didn't speak it at home. I think dialect should be taught in schools along with "high" German so it doesn't disappear. At the same time it's important that kids learn the common language so they can communicate properly (and aren't made fun of or passed off as simpletons) outside their region.

The same would apply to a common global language.

[con-2002.livejournal.com]

I grew up in the north. My mums parents were grandma and grandad. My Dads mum we called Nan, though this was an agreement between my parents and them i think. More to avoid confusion. My Nans second husband (my dads dad died before I was born) was Grandad Alan. I haven't really ever equated a difference, my Nan's other grandkids (on Alan's side) call her Grandma or Granny.
Though I doubt that particularly helps. They generally means the same thing, though in higher social circles, Nan or Nanna (from Nanny) refered to the person looking after them or so I am led to believe.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

At least it actually is complicated and I have every right to be confused. :o)

[con-2002.livejournal.com]

like most things, the english tend not to make them simple ;)

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

Graham called his mother's mother Nanna and her sister Nanta. He calls his father's mother Gran(ny). I have only ever had one living grandmother who I call Gran.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Ah, so I wasn't wrong that some people give different names to the grandmothers of the different sides. Thanks!

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

(Bit previous, but what the hell, I'm playing catch-up).

There may well be a regional and class bias to the usage, but from my own experience it varies from family to family, and according to the preference of the individual concerned*.

Frex, My maternal Grandmother was "Gran" or "Granny", never "Nana", as this was merely the name of the dog in Peter Pan as far as she was concerned. My Paternal Grandmother was Grandma** (largely for easy differentiation from Granny), and Granny's mother, who lived until I was about 4, was referred to as Nana, just because we were running out of names.

* I myself, when I become a grandfather will insist on being called "Gaffer". My mother will not allow anyone to call her "Grandma" due to the connection with her mother-in-law, with whom she was often at odds.

** In theory, my maternal Grandfather was "Grandad", and my paternal grandfather was "Grandpa", but for the latter, he was always Grandad when addressed in person because he preferred it that way.

P.S. doctor_flibble's kids call their grandfathers "Gramps" and "Grandpop" just to be awkward... if you were trying to find rhyme or reason to this, I'd give up now - if you hadn't already...

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[derekct.livejournal.com]

My sister decided to call one Nan and the other Grandma to stop confussion for the children. Also its regional as well I think in the UK what people call grandparents.
Dialects are good, since I use the local one all the time.

[lsur.livejournal.com]

They mean the same.

an american chiming in

[gothmom.livejournal.com]

well because we are such a melting pot or stewpot or whatever grandparents are called a lot of things. Personally, my grandparents all died before I was born (exception my paternal grandmother who died when I was 4) so it wasn't an issue.

Grandma, Granny, Gram, Grams, Yaya, Nana, and Muzzy are all terms I have heard used by friends or relatives. Oh yes, and my nephew had a "spanking grandma" lol!