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.
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by Donna | Mar 19, 2013
Is Five Guys only ONE Reader’s Pick? If many readers picked it, it should say Readers’ Pick…..wish I had, had my purple editing pen with me!
P.S. Don’t second guess on possessives all the time:
1. Write the word you want to make possessive first without even thinking about the possessive part {Readers}
2. Then ask yourself, “Does it end in an s?” {Don’t overthink this step and start asking yourself if it’s plural, etc….just focus on the final letter in the word.}.
3. If it ends in an s, simply put an apostrophe on the outside of the s. If it does NOT end in an s, put an ‘s.
Examples:
1. One reader picked it–the pick belongs to the one reader: reader’s pick
2. Many readers picked it–the pick belongs to many readers: readers’ pick
3. One dog owns the yard–the yard belongs to one dog: dog’s yard
4. Two dogs own the yard–the yard belongs to two dogs: dogs’ yard
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!
