I think from my British viewpoint there is more nuanced and multiple meanings. When I was a child 'nanny' was the common diminutive for your grandmother. Eg I love going to Nanny's house she bakes me a cake. Nan or Nana is abbreviated form. This was working class northern British and Irish. Granny was used more by southern/middle class but no hard and fast division. I think Pratchett was reflecting this when he used both names for his characters. As I read books/saw films I became aware that nanny was also used by upper middle class for a full time child carer often specially trained. Mary Poppins was this type of nanny. Totally different from baby sitting which was a teen spending a few hours with a child while parents go out.
Au pair was young people post school/university going abroad to improve their language skills getting accomodation in return for some help with kids and house.
Must all be very confusing for those learning Engt
That's really interesting. I've heard British friends refer to their grandmothers as Nan or Nana, but I never really associated it with class; when I looked at some of the British dictionaries (mainly Cambridge) I did find it as a reference to grandmother but still in the sense of "someone who is not the mother looking after the child," and not specifically grandmother. But, again, there are obviously some class aspects that I just completely missed! Part of the problem with writing short-form, lightly researched, I guess!
BTW, your take on au pair is really interesting to me. I don't think it has the association with traveling abroad in the U.S. Hmm. Something to look into.
And all this is a nightmare for students and teachers both. As TESOL moves away from specific Englishes into a more "world" English, which words do you teach with which meanings becomes an eternal quagmire.
English
I think from my British viewpoint there is more nuanced and multiple meanings. When I was a child 'nanny' was the common diminutive for your grandmother. Eg I love going to Nanny's house she bakes me a cake. Nan or Nana is abbreviated form. This was working class northern British and Irish. Granny was used more by southern/middle class but no hard and fast division. I think Pratchett was reflecting this when he used both names for his characters. As I read books/saw films I became aware that nanny was also used by upper middle class for a full time child carer often specially trained. Mary Poppins was this type of nanny. Totally different from baby sitting which was a teen spending a few hours with a child while parents go out.
Au pair was young people post school/university going abroad to improve their language skills getting accomodation in return for some help with kids and house.
Must all be very confusing for those learning Engt
That's really interesting. I've heard British friends refer to their grandmothers as Nan or Nana, but I never really associated it with class; when I looked at some of the British dictionaries (mainly Cambridge) I did find it as a reference to grandmother but still in the sense of "someone who is not the mother looking after the child," and not specifically grandmother. But, again, there are obviously some class aspects that I just completely missed! Part of the problem with writing short-form, lightly researched, I guess!
BTW, your take on au pair is really interesting to me. I don't think it has the association with traveling abroad in the U.S. Hmm. Something to look into.
And all this is a nightmare for students and teachers both. As TESOL moves away from specific Englishes into a more "world" English, which words do you teach with which meanings becomes an eternal quagmire.
Thanks for reading!