You're giving off caretaker/caregiver vibes right now.

[ghoul]

You're giving off caregiver/caretaker vibes right now.

A girl hugs and babies their plushie and I want to comment on that she's giving off maternal vibes in that moment. Could I do that by saying "you're giving off caregiver/caretaker vibes right now"?
I usually see the words "caregiver" and "caretaker" associated with a profession rather than literally a person who takes care of another such as a mother. While there are dictionary entries that essentially say the latter, they don't give unambiguous examples.

Do you think those words work the way I want to use them?

Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd probably be ambiguous anyway, so perhaps I should stick to "maternal". Open to suggestions, though.

 

[jutfrank]

If you told me she were giving off 'caretaker vibes', I'd imagine she were wearing overalls and carrying a mop.

 

[Tarheel]

You could use "maternal" but a very young child probably wouldn't know that word. A "caregiver" might be a professional but might also be, for example, a close family member. A caretaker is somebody who takes care of something -- not necessarily a person (usually not).

P.S. There's a story behind this one. Right in the middle I got sleepy and took a nap. Then I came back and finished.

 

[emsr2d2]

It really depends on the age of the child. Are they old enough to understand "caregiver" or "maternal"? Would they know what "giving off XXX vibes" means? Depending on the age, I'd use anything from "Awww, you being a mummy?" up to your sentence (but I agree that "caretaker" is definitely the wrong choice).

 

[ghoul]

A caretaker is somebody who takes care of something -- not necessarily a person (usually not).

If you told me she were giving off 'caretaker vibes', I'd imagine she were wearing overalls and carrying a mop.

Oh, that other meaning of it. Noted.

You could use "maternal" but a very young child probably wouldn't know that word. A "caregiver" might be a professional but might also be, for example, a close family member.

It really depends on the age of the child. Are they old enough to understand "caregiver" or "maternal"? Would they know what "giving off XXX vibes" means? Depending on the age, I'd use anything from "Awww, you being a mummy?" up to your sentence (but I agree that "caretaker" is definitely the wrong choice).

I was talking to a 19y/o who still played with plushies (common egirl trait), just like me. Expect the unexpected!

Regarding "caretaker" being the wrong choice, it does confuse me that some sites define it as literally a person who takes care of a person who is young, old, or sick (1, see second definition). Perhaps you just call it "carer" in the UK?

 

[Tarheel]

@ghoul I would bookmark www.dictionary.com if I were you. I don't know if they do it every time, but they give you ten example sentences for a word.

 

[probus]

I am interested @ghoul in checking out those sites that define caretaker as a person who takes care of another. Would you please provide URLs or links.

 

[5jj]

ghoul gave a link to one such site in post #5.

 

[5jj]

Perhaps you just call it "carer" in the UK?

We do.

 

[ghoul]

@ghoul I would bookmark www.dictionary.com if I were you. I don't know if they do it every time, but they give you ten example sentences for a word.

Sure; I usually check a words' definition in several dictionaries before asking about it here and when I do, I often feel like they didn't give(?) me the full picture in terms of how common which of the translations are. I think "caretaker" was a good example of that; had(?) I trusted those few dictionary entries equating it to "person that takes care of another" blindly, then that girl I was flirting with would have likely thought I called her a ****ing janitor, considering how everyone in the thread understood that word.

(unnecessary adjective removed - mod)