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to impute; ascribe the responsibility for:He charged the accident to his own carelessness.
The dinition ass a noun is
"Nanny" is a job. You know, like "if you want me to do it, you need to pay me."
We're not talking about Big Brothers / Big Sisters. My favorite waitress greets me with a warm smile, and she means it, but if she doesn't feed me, I won't return, and if I don't pay, I can't return. Nursing is called patient care, even if it's Mildred Ratched.
Glenn said: I can’t think of a warmer alternative offhand.
Following the established form of mentor/mentee, I think we can get a more affectionate term by going outside English. One of the synonyms for "nanny" is "au pair" (which is from the French for "on par" or "equal"). See this link. Let's steal that word and Anglicize it ...
So might I suggest "au pairee" as a substitute for "charges"? It has a nice Parisian ring to it, seems to have an equivalent meaning, and sounds less "cold" than "charges."
Example: Last night my au pairees and I enjoyed our time listening to Bach concertos.
Heimhenge said
So might I suggest "au pairee" as a substitute for "charges"? It has a nice Parisian ring to it, seems to have an equivalent meaning, and sounds less "cold" than "charges."
Wouldn't "au Pairee" be a large city in France, made of gold?
I believe (although I am very pooor at French) that the french equivalent of charges would be frais.
deaconB said: I believe (although I am very poor at French) that the French equivalent of charges would be frais.
Well sure, that's what Google Translate might tell you. But when you Anglicize a foreign word you have a fair amount of latitude. I still really like "au pairee" (with a lowercase "p") as a synonym for "charges". Eliminating the capital "P" eliminates any confusion with French cities.
[EDIT] Just found this ... apparently, at least one au pair refers to her charge as an "au pairee".
I think I will try to dispel the coldness some associate with the word charge(s). The prototypical nanny introduced to me in my youth was Mary Poppins. I do not think anyone would say there was coldness between Mary Poppins and the Banks children. On the contrary, her real task was to increase the warmth between the children and their parents (which she did accomplish, BTW) and supply the warmth that the children needed until the parents mended their ways. Since a Google search using "Mary Poppins" charges finds this play description on its first results page, charges hardly describe a cold relationship there.
If any nanny uses the word charges to describe the children and someone takes her to task for using a cold term, the nanny could reply, "Yes, cold like Mary Poppins."
Robert said
You're right about that. But it seems one of those words that remind of today's rarefied climate of correctness. Can you still call citizens who depend on the social safety net charge of state ? Too objectifying? Too much of a putdown?
Someone who'd getting welfare isn't really a charge. Someone who is unable to care for himself is a ward of the state. Bow that is a cold term - but if you recall Ted Grayson (Robin) is a ward of Bruce Wayne (Batman). (My apologies if I've gotten names wrong. It's been half a century since I read Batman comics.)
The stereotypical nanny I was first introduced to was "How do you solve a problem like" Maria, whose charges were the Von Trapp Family Singers. Today's stereotyped nanny is Nanny McFee, whose charges are Cedric Brown's seven mon^h^h^h children. In both cases.\, it starts out as a cold relationship with hostile children, who grow to love their nanny.
And, of course, the stereotypical au pair is either a sexpot seductress or a helpless victim, depending on who's telling the story; in any case, she ends up screwing papa, and the children are pretty much ignored.
Whether the relationship between a nanny and her charges is cold, it's a wide world. It's like mothers-in-law. I had horrid luck with moths in law, but my wives were blessed in that regard. gd&r
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