by Donna | May 13, 2019
The history of the holiday known as Mother’s Day is an interesting one. It was founded by a single lady who wanted to honor her mother. Anna Jarvis arranged two ceremonies in 1908 to honor mothers and initiate the holiday.
Soon thereafter, the holiday was catching on and Mother’s Day services were held in 45 states, as well as Canada and Mexico. For four years, Jarvis continued to advocate for a national holiday to honor mothers until she founded her own association in which white carnations were the icon and the terms “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day” were branded.
(more…)
by Donna | Feb 18, 2013
Happy Presidents’ Day. Or is that Presidents Day? Or Presidents’ Day?
Well….it depends on which expert you ask! Here is the run down:
1. It is NOT President’s Day
a. President’s denotes one President…and this holiday honors Washington and Lincoln both…as well as all presidents
b. President’s Day says that it is the day that belongs to one President (singular)
c. It follows the rule of writing the noun first (President) then if the word does NOT end in s, put apostrophe s (President’s Day)
2. Some say it is Presidents’ Day
a. The Gregg Reference Manual (my favorite handbook) cites it as such
b. This denotes many presidents all owning one day (or at least Lincoln and Washington)
c. It follows the rule of writing the noun first (Presidents) then if the word ends in s, put an apostrophe on the outside of the s
d. This is the correct way to show possession of one thing to more than one “owner”—or any noun that ends in an s (glass’ smudges).
3. Some say it is Presidents Day
a. The Associated Press Stylebook cites is as such
b. This method does not denote possession, but rather uses the word President as an adjective (actually a “proper adjective” in that it is an adjective made from a proper noun–some of the time–we will not even get into whether it is (President) or isn’t (president) in this post!)
c. This is like saying that, that is a Grisham book (as opposed to a book that Grisham owns–Grisham’s book), and it is certainly not incorrect
P.S. Capitalize president when referring to a certain president or the holiday in question!
So there you have it! More subjectivity in our English language. Happy Presidents’ Day! And Happy Presidents Day!
by Donna | Feb 14, 2013
Happy Valentine’s Day! Some tips for punctuation and capitalization of this loving holiday:
1. In a greeting (such as a card), cap all three words: Happy Valentine’s Day.
2. Show possession to the singular proper noun Valentine--the day belongs to him: Valentine’s Day.
3. Cap Day in the holiday because it is part of the holiday’s name (as opposed to day in Christmas day in which Christmas is the name of the holiday, not day): Valentine’s Day.
4. You can just call it Valentine when appropriate, but remember that Valentine is a singular proper noun, so in other contexts, do not plural it before showing possession:
a. I’m making Valentine’s cupcakes.
b. I got a Valentine card.
5. If you are calling cards Valentines, keep the following in mind:
a. Still cap it–any time a proper noun element is used, it retains its capitalization: I got a Valentine this morning. (In this case, it is sometimes called a proper adjective–an adjective that is a proper noun in its non-descriptive states.)
b. Just plural it with an s (not an apostrophe s): I got some Valentines at school today.
Most of all, enjoy your Valentine’s Day! 🙂
by Donna | Jun 19, 2011
Father’s Day presents some of the same challenges in writing as Mother’s Day. Like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is written with a capital letter at the beginning of each word—and is written as a day for the singular father—not plural (fathers).
The “official” take on that goes like this (according to encyclopedias as well as the Chicago Manual of Style):
“Although the name of the event is usually understood as a plural possessive (i.e. ‘day belonging to fathers’), which would under normal English punctuation guidelines be spelled ‘Fathers’ Day,’ the most common spelling is ‘Father’s Day,’ as if it were a singular possessive (i.e. ‘day belonging to Father’). In the United States, Dodd used the ‘Fathers’ Day’ spelling on her original petition for the holiday, but the spelling ‘Father’s Day’ was already used in 1913 when a bill was introduced to the U.S. Congress as the first attempt to establish the holiday, and it was still spelled the same way when its creator was commended in 2008 by the United States Congress.”
So…Happy Father’s day to my father, my children’s father—and all fathers—regardless of whether it is written in a singular or plural possessive manner!
by Donna | May 23, 2011
In writing Mother’s Day, I reminded you that the day belongs to one mother–your mother. Thus, you write Mother, then you show possession to the word mother: Mother’s Day.
Possession can be so tricky because we think of whether the word is singular or possessive; we contemplate whether the apostrophe should be on the inside or outside of the s, etc. It doesn’t need to be that complicated! You are probably thinking too hard!
Tricky Trick to Help It Stick: Do not worry about whether the word you want to show possession to is singular or plural.
1. Just write the word you want to show possession to
2. Then see if it does or does not end in an s:
a. If it DOES end in an s, just put apostrophe on the outside of the s that is already there (s’)
i. glass
ii. glass’ rim
b. It it does NOT end in an s, add apostrophe s (‘s)
i. cup
ii. cup’s rim
