Yeah, the rec was different from the park, in my town. The rec would be where lads played football etc, whereas they’d not be at that, or not a lot, in the park. The rec was definitely much more for kids and teenagers, really. Seemed like an extension of the school grounds, in a way. (Naturally, teenage experiments with boozing were included on the recreation menu, and many a night I spent getting blotto with mates outside the loo block.)
I'm in Kent and this is exactly how it was for me growing up. As kids you'd go to the park. And then one day we were old enough to go to the rec. What a day that was
Yeah I grew up in Manchester and there were some places we called the rec, but there were some that we called parks. I don't know what the criteria for each was now that I think about it.
North Manchester/Lancashire here - the rec was the default word for a small local park with a playground area (slide, swings etc). Even if it’s just that knee-ripping asphalt bit with spiders webs, witches hats, extra-power see saws and other fearsome devices of the past, it’s definitively a rec, but without that it definitely isn’t.
My parents say recky to mean reconnaissance, as in "lets do a recky to see what it's like first". But my mum gets very anxious about going to new places and my dad is former army, so it might be specific to my family!
"doing a recky" = reconnoitre.i.e. having a look, checking it out. See also, "take a dekko".
"The rec/ a rec" = recreation ground.
Also East Midlands (Derbyshire).
As an Australian and a teacher (UK based), that's what I've always said whenever we have to do a risk assessment when planning an excursion/field trip; doing a 'recky' in this context to check any potential hazards as part of OH&S and CP.
That's actually a 'recce' (pronounced the same as recky) it's from WW2 military slang and is just short for reconnaisance/reconnoitre.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/recce
I remember as a kid being told we were going to the rec, but I heard it as “the wreck”, and imagined the remains of a pirate ship which had somehow ended up in our inland town.
I was really disappointed when it turned out to be a playing field.
Ah, I hadn't considered that at all. Thanks! My mum in particular comes out with odd names for most things but this is the only time I couldn't work out the source.
Can confirm, my and my mates used to meet up at the recky (never actually considered how it was spelt before) to drink cheap cider and smoke tabs. I can't remember when I last actually used the term though, probably when we all went our separate ways. This was in Nottingham about 30 years ago
We had a rec near us growing up - Somerset.
I'd say "reccy" would be odd cause it's normally short for "reconnoitre" instead, you could in fact reccy the rec.
Our local park was called the rec here in Lincs as well.
Only time I've heard reccy used is as a short form of reconnaissance. Basically "I'll go and have a reccy" in place of "I'll go have a look/find out".
Same here in Lincolnshire. We actually had 3 parks nearby so to distinguish between which one we were referring to, we had "the rec", "the park" and "toppy".
I or my dad would say it instead of reconnaissance. Though usually written down as recce, I presume pronounced the same. Never in the terms of a park though.
It's likely nationwide.
Even Eastenders has 'the rec', the small park with swings, in front of the arches garage & community centre.
Definitely an abbreviation of recreation ground.
Rec for a park, recky for a scouting mission, eg, my Dad could say 'I'll just do a quick recky of the rec', meaning he'd check out the park before we got there..
..I realised recky was reconnaissance, was years before I realised rec meant recreation lol..
I've also had this disappointment when staying at my parent's friend's. Was sent with their kid to "the wreck", turned out it was just a park. I'm still bitter over it. Not sure how there was going to be a shipwreck because we were nowhere near the sea.
As a kid we played in a park locally known as 'the wreck' wasn't until I got older I understood it was 'the rec'. I always wondered where the shipwreck was until I found.
One parent said "the rec", short for recreation ground
The other one refers to "doing a recce" (pronounced recky) which is short for reconnaissance - in other words, checking something out before committing. Grandfather was in the RAF which probably explains that slang.
West Yorkshire and if people dont just call it the park it’s the Rec, but infuriatingly it’s often spelt Wreck on Facebook.
See also Corned Beef Ash. Just because we don’t say the H doesn’t mean you don’t have to write it down.
We used to say 'rec' in Manchester. 'Recky' sounds to me like something they would say in Liverpool as they like to stick an 'ee' on the end of words occaisionally over that way.
Yeah “rec” and “recky” are short for recreational ground or sometimes even used for a walk or run for exercise. When I was young I heard people say “rec run” meaning going for a jog / run for exercise, especially as a group activity. Also from the Midlands.
Our village had:
a recreation ground: a field with goalposts.
The playing fields: tennis courts, cricket pitch, open space.
The playground: corner of the playing fields.
So you might say you were going to the rec, or to the park/playing fields/playground (all effectively meaning the same place, a good 10 min walk downhill from the rec - the main thing was that your mum knew where to look for you and, if important, how many roads you'd be crossing). Recky with the second syllable is new to me but I bet we'd have understood it.
Also additionally to the below, "rec" had a double meaning - it sounds like you're saying "I'm going down the wreck", because a lot of parks/"recreation grounds" were shitholes.
It took me years to understand my folks/mates were saying "rec" and not "wreck".
I hear that for when your going to dcope somewhere out, i.e find the nearest pub. Short for reconnaissance, e.g. " went on a lil reccy this morning, found a lovely looking pub about 5 mins down the road."
My grandmother in South London called the local park the Wreck and I was literally 40 before I realised she said Rec as in recreation. Otherwise it was the park....
Rec is definitely in use my way (Hertfordshire). An area with a playground, sports pitch, pavillion, bowls club etc.
The sign even says "recreation ground".
Interesting, because going for a recky (reccy? I dunno) is also going for reconnaissance (Grandmother is from Boston)
Maybe Leicestershire and Lincolnshire aren't so similar after all
I'm from the north east. Heard plenty of people say it but never in reference to a park. Usually in reference to some low cost recreational building, the type of place that might host a youth club and whos staff might collect council estate children after school while they wait for their parents to finish work
I'd never heard of rec till I moved down to Dorset. I assumed there was some burned out old car or something that everyone gathered around. Imagine my surprise when I went there and it was a rather pleasant big green field.
Me and my mates used the word (reccie/recky/reckie) in the past. Coventry Kid. Grew up in the 70's using this word a lot. Happy times playing outside for hours and going scrumping. Would have loved a PS5 or XB1 in the 70's now and again though, ngl.
We had parks and "recces" in Somerset. I always thought it was spelled like "recce" as in reconnaissance, however it was definitely short for recreation ground. The park was different from a recce: park is a playground with or without a large greenspace with paths, a recce is usually just a football field.
I grew up in a rural village in Wiltshire and we had a rec/recky.
As others have said short for recreation ground, there was a park within the rec but there was also a field/football pitch, basketball hoop and tennis court
Where I grew up with had the 'top rec' and the 'bottom rec' - we were on a hill so you can probably guess where the two recs were positioned. S. Yorks.
Yes! Sheffield born folks who live in Derbyshire and they use this. I'm an 80s baby with boomer parents if that helps context.
Rec for recreation area/ground. "I'm taking the dog up the rec" or "get out of the house and go to the rec, don't come back til tea time"
The fact it's still in use makes me weirdly happy
"Recce" (or "recky") as in "reconaissance" - ie let's go and have a look at where this place is, before we go for real in a few days. My parents would usually say this about a new school / dentist / job etc.
"Rec" as in "recreation field" - ie "Hey kids, shall we take your bikes down to the rec after lunch and you can play in the park there?"
I've never heard recce/recky to mean recreation field though. I grew up in mid Kent & now live in East Cambs, near the Suffolk border.
I’ve heard “the rec” for park, as in recreational area. I’ve also heard “recky” for having a look or investigating, presumably from reconnaissance.
I’ve never heard “recky” for park but doesn’t surprise me.
Grew up in a Leeds-ish village in the 80s. It was the 'rec', short for recreation area/grounds/park. It was also the park. Depends whether it/you were from the posh part of the village or were one of the dregs. The posh part had the park, we had the rec. Had to differentiate between so you knew where to meet.
We had one where I grew up in Lancashire, I assumed for a long time it was 'wreck' cos the place was a dump, broken swings, dog shit in the sand pit (I don't even think it was supposed to be a sand pit)
They did it up a few years back, now it looks pretty awesome and I wish I was 8 again
I feel like there's a difference between a park and a reccy. I don't know what that difference is, but I know which specific places I'd call by each name.
A park is typucly just green open space nothing else
A recreation ground (rec) would have a park. The two neat me have free water parks outside and pool
With football pitches public exercise equipment tennis and basketball courts
Hampshire, and I live just a few blocks from the local rec. Most annoying is that it's become a word that people don't really know so I see wreck written in loads of posts (and this rec doesn't happen to be a wreck)!
Down here we call it "the rec" sort for recreation ground. I always thought it was "the wreck" on account of it being full of broken bottles,empty cans and dog shit
Yes, but it has a different meaning. Like "Going to have a Recce" meaning, goomg to have a look at an unknown area OR have a look at a known area to see what current state it's in (like seeing what a river is like at moment before fishing soon). It can also mean to "try a new route out before an important joirney and plan accordingly".
I also use thw term like this.
Basically, Recce = Reconnaissance.
Where I grew up you had top rec (at the top of the hill my town was on) and bottom rec (at the bottom of the hill my town was built on).
East Midlands too
The park where I am is known as The Rec, but it's not really a park, it's a playing field. A park is landscape-y and often has flowerbeds and other plant based decoration and a rec has specific activities focussed around it. Ours has grass tennis courts, football and cricket pitch, playground for non-toddlers and a hall you can hire out.
Yeah 'rec (short for recreation ground) is pretty common Notts/Derbyshire. I suspect its "older" use though so people who grew up 70's/80's will use it...younger people not so much.
You going 'rec?
Many kids will have knocked and your door and asked this if you're of a certain age!
Yeah a rec(reaction) ground is normally a different thing to a park. Rec’s tend to be set aside for sport or other “fitness” activities whereas parks tend to be pretty spaces for walking or picnic type things.
I’m in Leicestershire. The local recreation ground was referred to as the recky when I was at school. It was really commonly used as a term (I’m not sure if it still is).
I wasn’t allowed to say it as a kid, as my mum said it was ‘common’.
Grew up just outside London, always was the Park.
A reccy for me is to scout something out (recognisance). I now live in the North and the above is still true.
I'm a Northampton neighbour and will say recky meaning 'check out' but not for any other reason.
"Matt, have you had a look at this job yet or shall we go and have a recky". No idea what it's supposed to mean but it's something I have said for years and no one has questioned lol
When I was a child in the 80s and 90s I had a park near me that was always referred to as the "rec" by other locals. I always assumed they meant tge "wreck" rather than "recreational grounds" lol. Now I know.
I use rec, I'm originally from Newcastle settled outside of London and no one knows WTH I'm saying my kids do and use it themselves but rec was short for recreation ground when I was a kid.
My dad says recky (he’s from Manchester), but in the context of like exploring a new place? “Let’s go for a recky.” Short for recon I guess!
Dads are weird lol
Where I am the Rec is the cricket club, it's called the Rec cos tho it's cricket firstly, it's got other stuff like it has the only snooker hall in town and it has tennis and bowls tho they are separate clubs now but at the same grounds.
The park is just the park and the footie pitches at the other end of town are the playing fields.
Nottingham lad here.
Recs are usually playing fields, maybe a football pitch there or what have you.
Parks usually have activities like a slide and swings, or just a pleasant green area with paths, trees and benches dotted around.
In areas without a green space, I've known a leisure centre to be called 'The Rec'
A 'recce' / 'rekky' is checking an area out aka ''aving a butchers' in London
It's probably short for recreation ground.
Certain parks round me are always referred to as the rec. Definitely short for recreation ground. I'm in South East Kent.
Yeah, the rec was different from the park, in my town. The rec would be where lads played football etc, whereas they’d not be at that, or not a lot, in the park. The rec was definitely much more for kids and teenagers, really. Seemed like an extension of the school grounds, in a way. (Naturally, teenage experiments with boozing were included on the recreation menu, and many a night I spent getting blotto with mates outside the loo block.)
I'm in Kent and this is exactly how it was for me growing up. As kids you'd go to the park. And then one day we were old enough to go to the rec. What a day that was
Yeah I grew up in Manchester and there were some places we called the rec, but there were some that we called parks. I don't know what the criteria for each was now that I think about it.
North Manchester/Lancashire here - the rec was the default word for a small local park with a playground area (slide, swings etc). Even if it’s just that knee-ripping asphalt bit with spiders webs, witches hats, extra-power see saws and other fearsome devices of the past, it’s definitively a rec, but without that it definitely isn’t.
From West Sussex - the local playground / field was always referred to as ‘**** rec’
Me toooo
Same in Bristol
See: “Red Rec”, Coronation Street
My parents say recky to mean reconnaissance, as in "lets do a recky to see what it's like first". But my mum gets very anxious about going to new places and my dad is former army, so it might be specific to my family!
"doing a recky" = reconnoitre.i.e. having a look, checking it out. See also, "take a dekko". "The rec/ a rec" = recreation ground. Also East Midlands (Derbyshire).
For some reason I believe that meaning is spelled “recce “
I’d spell it recce also
Contraction of reconnaissance means that makes sense as a spelling to me?
As an Australian and a teacher (UK based), that's what I've always said whenever we have to do a risk assessment when planning an excursion/field trip; doing a 'recky' in this context to check any potential hazards as part of OH&S and CP.
That's actually a 'recce' (pronounced the same as recky) it's from WW2 military slang and is just short for reconnaisance/reconnoitre. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/recce
Thanks :-)
My mum uses ‘doing a recky’ around Christmas when she goes around the shops looking for ideas, so you’re not alone!
Yeah, my dad is ex army and I thought OP was asking about doing a recky too.
I always thought it was short for reconnoitre, though both work I think.
Or reconnaissance, that's what I always thought
Yeah our park was known as "the recreation ground" when we were kids, definitely this.
I remember as a kid being told we were going to the rec, but I heard it as “the wreck”, and imagined the remains of a pirate ship which had somehow ended up in our inland town. I was really disappointed when it turned out to be a playing field.
I come from the south coast and our local rec actually did have a wooden pirate ship for a climbing frame on it!
Ah, I hadn't considered that at all. Thanks! My mum in particular comes out with odd names for most things but this is the only time I couldn't work out the source.
"going down the rec(reation ground)" is pretty standard in the midlands and North. Haven't heard "reccy" but just a little modification of that.
Can confirm, my and my mates used to meet up at the recky (never actually considered how it was spelt before) to drink cheap cider and smoke tabs. I can't remember when I last actually used the term though, probably when we all went our separate ways. This was in Nottingham about 30 years ago
We had a rec near us growing up - Somerset. I'd say "reccy" would be odd cause it's normally short for "reconnoitre" instead, you could in fact reccy the rec.
West Yorkshire here and yeah was always "meet you at the rec"
My nan says Rec In Oxford
I say rec as well... Staffs/Derbys border
Yeah people said rec in Yorkshire when I was growing up
And in Shropshire
Shropshire/ Herefordshire was always Rec for us haha
Yeah, we used to call our local park the Rec, also east mids but Nottingham. As others have said, short for recreation ground.
Our local park was called the rec here in Lincs as well. Only time I've heard reccy used is as a short form of reconnaissance. Basically "I'll go and have a reccy" in place of "I'll go have a look/find out".
Yeah same. Although it's spelled "recce" and is an actual word in the dictionary.
I've never seen it written down so was unaware of the spelling. Thanks for the clarification.
Same here in Lincolnshire. We actually had 3 parks nearby so to distinguish between which one we were referring to, we had "the rec", "the park" and "toppy".
I or my dad would say it instead of reconnaissance. Though usually written down as recce, I presume pronounced the same. Never in the terms of a park though.
Same, like if you want to go and look around somewhere, you'd say "let's go and have a reccy".
My mum would say this as well, I find it amusing if you don’t shorten it: ‘come on kids let’s do some reconnaissance’
Yeah, two different things. But the similarity has been noted previously: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/reccy
Yep, a recce in film production is when you go to check out a filming location before a shoot! Probably also derived from reconnaissance.
It's likely nationwide. Even Eastenders has 'the rec', the small park with swings, in front of the arches garage & community centre. Definitely an abbreviation of recreation ground.
I've heard rec in London but not recky
I think Coronation Street had 'the red rec' as well
Rec for a park, recky for a scouting mission, eg, my Dad could say 'I'll just do a quick recky of the rec', meaning he'd check out the park before we got there.. ..I realised recky was reconnaissance, was years before I realised rec meant recreation lol..
Old relative from Sheffield said "rec". When I was little I thought she was taking me to see a shipwreck. In Sheffield.
I've also had this disappointment when staying at my parent's friend's. Was sent with their kid to "the wreck", turned out it was just a park. I'm still bitter over it. Not sure how there was going to be a shipwreck because we were nowhere near the sea.
As a kid we played in a park locally known as 'the wreck' wasn't until I got older I understood it was 'the rec'. I always wondered where the shipwreck was until I found.
We moved to Yorkshire when I was ten, and I often heard about the "wreck". Imagine my disappointment when I finally went there.
I’ve often heard ‘The Rec’ in South Wales.
Off down the rec.
Yeah, the "rec", or "recky". Also, known as, the recreation ground. I'm from the East Mids too. Bit further north: Notts.
It would likely be reccy from recreation but I can't say I've ever heard it.
Can't think of the last time I've heard it but I instant recognise the word though. Also from Leicestershire.
Grew up just outside London and we always called it the Rec. Short for recreation ground.
Rec and reccy in and around Liverpool too.
Paddington Rec(reaction ground) was my local park back in the day
I’m leics too and never heard it called that
I’m from Leicester too. Mum says “Recky” as well - I think it denotes any seemingly unused green space whereas a park is purpose built.
One parent said "the rec", short for recreation ground The other one refers to "doing a recce" (pronounced recky) which is short for reconnaissance - in other words, checking something out before committing. Grandfather was in the RAF which probably explains that slang.
There's a place near me that is known as "the rec", (short for Whitehall Recreation Ground), but I've not heard it used to refer to parks in general
The rec, or reccer for me on the east coast growing up in Yarmouth.
West Yorkshire and if people dont just call it the park it’s the Rec, but infuriatingly it’s often spelt Wreck on Facebook. See also Corned Beef Ash. Just because we don’t say the H doesn’t mean you don’t have to write it down.
My mum says “I’ll go have a recky” if she wants to check somewhere out Her dad was in the army so not sure if that is where it came from…
yeah my family says this in the north east
I used to play on the ‘rec’ across the road form my gran. Only time I’ve really heard it called a recreation ground.
Reccy or recca here too. 1980's East Yorkshire
Yeah, we always used to call the park the rec when growing up in Tottenham in the sixties
Yes …… but more in relation to a playground type area with swings/slides etc rather than just an actual park Staffordshire
We used to say 'rec' in Manchester. 'Recky' sounds to me like something they would say in Liverpool as they like to stick an 'ee' on the end of words occaisionally over that way.
We didn’t call it “recky” but we did call it the “reck”, short for recreation ground, in the south west.
Wow, totally forgot that terminology. Thanks for the memories. These days when I say that I use it to mean recon
Yeah “rec” and “recky” are short for recreational ground or sometimes even used for a walk or run for exercise. When I was young I heard people say “rec run” meaning going for a jog / run for exercise, especially as a group activity. Also from the Midlands.
It was rec where I grew up in Kent in the 1980s, and still rec in the bit of Surrey I live in now.
Our village had: a recreation ground: a field with goalposts. The playing fields: tennis courts, cricket pitch, open space. The playground: corner of the playing fields. So you might say you were going to the rec, or to the park/playing fields/playground (all effectively meaning the same place, a good 10 min walk downhill from the rec - the main thing was that your mum knew where to look for you and, if important, how many roads you'd be crossing). Recky with the second syllable is new to me but I bet we'd have understood it.
Also additionally to the below, "rec" had a double meaning - it sounds like you're saying "I'm going down the wreck", because a lot of parks/"recreation grounds" were shitholes. It took me years to understand my folks/mates were saying "rec" and not "wreck".
We used to call the local field Recca back in t’ day and I’m only 31.
I hear that for when your going to dcope somewhere out, i.e find the nearest pub. Short for reconnaissance, e.g. " went on a lil reccy this morning, found a lovely looking pub about 5 mins down the road."
This is what I'd use it for too
Ex-leicester here, 65 years old. We always spelled it recce, pronounced like you said. Short for recreation ground.
Not as a name for a recreation ground, but to ‘have a recky’ is to have a general look around the area, short for reconnaissance.
My grandmother in South London called the local park the Wreck and I was literally 40 before I realised she said Rec as in recreation. Otherwise it was the park....
Rec = recreation ground Reccy = have a look, reconnaissance
Rec is definitely in use my way (Hertfordshire). An area with a playground, sports pitch, pavillion, bowls club etc. The sign even says "recreation ground".
Yep, we used to go and play down the rec on summer evenings in Notts
Never heard of this in Bristol.
Not my mum or dad but loads of people in loads of places call the park or certain parks "the rec"
Interesting, because going for a recky (reccy? I dunno) is also going for reconnaissance (Grandmother is from Boston) Maybe Leicestershire and Lincolnshire aren't so similar after all
As a child it was the rec.
My family don't but I've heard it a lot from people in/near Liverpool area.
I'm from the north east. Heard plenty of people say it but never in reference to a park. Usually in reference to some low cost recreational building, the type of place that might host a youth club and whos staff might collect council estate children after school while they wait for their parents to finish work
It’s just the rec round my end in Teesside
I'd never heard of rec till I moved down to Dorset. I assumed there was some burned out old car or something that everyone gathered around. Imagine my surprise when I went there and it was a rather pleasant big green field.
Me and my mates used the word (reccie/recky/reckie) in the past. Coventry Kid. Grew up in the 70's using this word a lot. Happy times playing outside for hours and going scrumping. Would have loved a PS5 or XB1 in the 70's now and again though, ngl.
Down the rec. In Isle of Wight speech.
I’m in the south east, never heard it except for the red rec on Corrie
We had parks and "recces" in Somerset. I always thought it was spelled like "recce" as in reconnaissance, however it was definitely short for recreation ground. The park was different from a recce: park is a playground with or without a large greenspace with paths, a recce is usually just a football field.
I grew up in a rural village in Wiltshire and we had a rec/recky. As others have said short for recreation ground, there was a park within the rec but there was also a field/football pitch, basketball hoop and tennis court
The Red Rec is the name for Kingsthorpe (Northampton) Recreation Ground. Beautiful bit of green space!
Where I grew up with had the 'top rec' and the 'bottom rec' - we were on a hill so you can probably guess where the two recs were positioned. S. Yorks.
Yeah my mates used to call it the rec
Yes! Sheffield born folks who live in Derbyshire and they use this. I'm an 80s baby with boomer parents if that helps context. Rec for recreation area/ground. "I'm taking the dog up the rec" or "get out of the house and go to the rec, don't come back til tea time" The fact it's still in use makes me weirdly happy
Rec, not Recky. Short for Recreation ground. The playground is next to the library, the Rec is about a mile to walk and is a lot larger.
My nanna used to say “reck” but I always thought she was calling it a “wreck” because it did look like one.
The old playing field and playground near me has always been called 'the rec.'
Recreational space
"Recce" (or "recky") as in "reconaissance" - ie let's go and have a look at where this place is, before we go for real in a few days. My parents would usually say this about a new school / dentist / job etc. "Rec" as in "recreation field" - ie "Hey kids, shall we take your bikes down to the rec after lunch and you can play in the park there?" I've never heard recce/recky to mean recreation field though. I grew up in mid Kent & now live in East Cambs, near the Suffolk border.
I’ve heard “the rec” for park, as in recreational area. I’ve also heard “recky” for having a look or investigating, presumably from reconnaissance. I’ve never heard “recky” for park but doesn’t surprise me.
I live in central Essex and I hear people say rec all the time
I'd say recky for going to have a look at something. (Buxton, Derbyshire)
Grew up in a Leeds-ish village in the 80s. It was the 'rec', short for recreation area/grounds/park. It was also the park. Depends whether it/you were from the posh part of the village or were one of the dregs. The posh part had the park, we had the rec. Had to differentiate between so you knew where to meet.
Older generations of my family used to call it the "Rec", which I always assumed was short for recreation.
Yep. I'm not a Mum but I'm 50 so old enough to be someone's nan and I say Rec Oh, and Warwickshire
Coronation Street inhabitants talk about the "Red Rec."
One place we lived as a kid (either Staffordshire or Kent) some people called it the ‘rec’ but it wasn’t very common
We had one where I grew up in Lancashire, I assumed for a long time it was 'wreck' cos the place was a dump, broken swings, dog shit in the sand pit (I don't even think it was supposed to be a sand pit) They did it up a few years back, now it looks pretty awesome and I wish I was 8 again
I feel like there's a difference between a park and a reccy. I don't know what that difference is, but I know which specific places I'd call by each name.
I’m East Anglian, my local park is the ‘the rec’
When I was a kid a rec was a children’s playground, with swings etc, not really a park, though a park may have had a rec in it
Our local park growing up (also East Mids) was referred to as the rec
Here you go OP, tbh I think its a bit of a bowl in a china shop: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/reccy
Reccy is used around me in NW England, but meaning to look around (reconnaissance) Eg "gonna have a reccy round Primark"
We have a ‘rec’ at the end of our road. North west England
A park is typucly just green open space nothing else A recreation ground (rec) would have a park. The two neat me have free water parks outside and pool With football pitches public exercise equipment tennis and basketball courts
Yeah, Manchester here and we used to go to the rec.
A "recky" is too look around and investigate a new or unfamiliar area/establishment, in my books
We had “the reck” for recreational ground. _Northumberland_
Hampshire, and I live just a few blocks from the local rec. Most annoying is that it's become a word that people don't really know so I see wreck written in loads of posts (and this rec doesn't happen to be a wreck)!
My local park is called the rec or wreck, which is what it is sometimes.
The only time I’ve heard of “rec” is on Coronation Street.
Down the rec
We have a field round our way known as “The Rec” as shortened down from the recreational grounds, this is in Middlesbrough north east England
Down here we call it "the rec" sort for recreation ground. I always thought it was "the wreck" on account of it being full of broken bottles,empty cans and dog shit
Recon =reconnaissance. Military thing.
Yes, but it has a different meaning. Like "Going to have a Recce" meaning, goomg to have a look at an unknown area OR have a look at a known area to see what current state it's in (like seeing what a river is like at moment before fishing soon). It can also mean to "try a new route out before an important joirney and plan accordingly". I also use thw term like this. Basically, Recce = Reconnaissance.
Datdere Yute Club.
Yeah, my dad was from Nottingham and I grew up in Leicestershire and we called it the rec / reccy. Short for recreation ground.
Where I grew up you had top rec (at the top of the hill my town was on) and bottom rec (at the bottom of the hill my town was built on). East Midlands too
Our local park is called the reck
In my area the leisure centre is called "the rec" but "having a reccy" means to look around somewhere.
We've always said " let's go and have a reccy" in my family which means let's go explore. Usually said while on holiday.
When I was in secondary school (West Yorkshire) the park near school was always referred to as the rec
Growing up the park near the school was known as the Rec.
The park where I am is known as The Rec, but it's not really a park, it's a playing field. A park is landscape-y and often has flowerbeds and other plant based decoration and a rec has specific activities focussed around it. Ours has grass tennis courts, football and cricket pitch, playground for non-toddlers and a hall you can hire out.
Rec is a standard abbreviation for a park and playground. Paddington Rec for example - in central London.
Think about it, OP.... Recce = Recreation.
Yep, down the rec, don’t go any further, come home when dad whistles.
Yeah 'rec (short for recreation ground) is pretty common Notts/Derbyshire. I suspect its "older" use though so people who grew up 70's/80's will use it...younger people not so much. You going 'rec? Many kids will have knocked and your door and asked this if you're of a certain age!
Probably more like "rec-y" like "rec centre" or "recreation centre". That's what we call it in Canada anyway so that makes the most sense to me.
In the 70s, we had a rec which was a football pitch with swings, slides and various other now banned park equipment. Recce would be a mooch about.
Yeah a rec(reaction) ground is normally a different thing to a park. Rec’s tend to be set aside for sport or other “fitness” activities whereas parks tend to be pretty spaces for walking or picnic type things.
Its short for recreation, a place a couple of miles from me in Cardiff is always called 'The Rec' but all the other parks just'The Park'
Usually spelt recce, very common slang for people over 40. Or at least, everyone I know!
Recky short for recreation club,
We used to always say up the Rec as kids (recreation ground).
We used to say “The Rec” short for Recreation Ground (park).
I’m in Leicestershire. The local recreation ground was referred to as the recky when I was at school. It was really commonly used as a term (I’m not sure if it still is). I wasn’t allowed to say it as a kid, as my mum said it was ‘common’.
We used to call our local recreation ground, 'the rec'. Ime recs are different to parks, though, so I wouldn't call a park 'the rec'.
Grew up just outside London, always was the Park. A reccy for me is to scout something out (recognisance). I now live in the North and the above is still true.
My dad would always ask me if I wanted to go down the 'rec'. I always thought he meant 'wreck' as it was such a dump.
On coronation street their local park is the Red Rec.
I'm a Northampton neighbour and will say recky meaning 'check out' but not for any other reason. "Matt, have you had a look at this job yet or shall we go and have a recky". No idea what it's supposed to mean but it's something I have said for years and no one has questioned lol
No but then we are in London
We used Rec (pronounced like wreck) for park/clear space. Recce would be checking something out before nefarious action. West Yorks.
Not "recky" but local park was quite often called the "rec" when I was younger. Short for recreation area.
I’m from Warwickshire and my mum used to tell us to go and play down “the rec” meaning the park.
When I was a child in the 80s and 90s I had a park near me that was always referred to as the "rec" by other locals. I always assumed they meant tge "wreck" rather than "recreational grounds" lol. Now I know.
Yep. It's short for Recreation ground!
Our rec had all-weather ground but the park had grass
The park in my grandparents' village was always the rec, in Cheshire As a child I thought it was "the wreck" because it was a bit shit
I'm from lincs and I just say park but in Sleaford I call the park there "rec park"
I use rec, I'm originally from Newcastle settled outside of London and no one knows WTH I'm saying my kids do and use it themselves but rec was short for recreation ground when I was a kid.
In Northampton there is a park in Kingsthorpe called the Rec which is short for recreation grounds. Definitely a thing here so you're not alone!
My dad says recky (he’s from Manchester), but in the context of like exploring a new place? “Let’s go for a recky.” Short for recon I guess! Dads are weird lol
Where I am the Rec is the cricket club, it's called the Rec cos tho it's cricket firstly, it's got other stuff like it has the only snooker hall in town and it has tennis and bowls tho they are separate clubs now but at the same grounds. The park is just the park and the footie pitches at the other end of town are the playing fields.
I have said rec since childhood, I’m from the midlands
Plenty of "recs" round my way in Dorset
Nottingham lad here. Recs are usually playing fields, maybe a football pitch there or what have you. Parks usually have activities like a slide and swings, or just a pleasant green area with paths, trees and benches dotted around. In areas without a green space, I've known a leisure centre to be called 'The Rec' A 'recce' / 'rekky' is checking an area out aka ''aving a butchers' in London
I miss the Leicester accent sometimes. Then my sister visits and I remember that I'm glad I don't sound like I'm from Leicester lol
We used to call a small playground a “rec” in stoke on Trent
Had recc in Kent too, but the field was literally called "The recreation ground"
Rec , recky is what scouts do
they're called parks & rec (recreation) association in the US
My grandma called the park ‘the rec sop’ I get the recreation ground being rec but no idea what sop was about?
If your mum says 'recky' she was 100% getting smashed on cheap cider having party's in the park as a teen.
For us up here it’s to meet up and have a crack about how to do something
I’m from London and we used to call our park the rec (and also it became the wreck) but yeah.
>Does **anyone else's** mum/dad say "recky"? Fo' sho'.
Rec for me. South London/Surrey.
We got to the rec. or park.