Happy Mother's Day! Or Happy Mothers' Day?

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. 

President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1914 calling for the observance of the holiday (and other countries followed suit). Once the holiday became official, however, Mrs. Jarvis was unhappy with all of the hoopla. Evidently, she had planned for it to be a simple day in which a mother would receive a single white carnation and a handwritten letter. The gifts, parades, restaurant meals, parties, large bouquets etc. Jarvis actually wrote letters of protests and even tried to sue those celebrating the holiday in a manner in which she disagreed--stating that she had made the holiday herself. 

What does this history lesson have to do with English? Well, it turns out, in addition to feeling strongly about how the day was to be celebrated, Jarvis also felt strongly about the punctuation of the name of the holiday. She stated that it should be Mother's Day--one mother possessing one day. It should be a day to honor one mother at a time, not a mass holiday, as in Mothers' Day (in which the day belongs to many mothers). 

Nowadays, of course, we see the holiday punctuated both ways, though more often than not, it is the way Jarvis intended it to be--however, I dare say that the one carnation and hand-written letter policy are not still followed, judging by the crowds in restaurants today!

1. Mother's Day---one mother--we write the word mother, and seeing that it doesn't end in an s, we place the apostrophe then s Mother's

2. Mothers' Day--many mothers--we write the word mothers, and seeing that it does end in an s, we place the apostrophe on the outside of the s+

+Note that some handbooks say in this instance, we should still use an apostrophe s: Mothers's Day, though rarely. Others say that if the addition of the possessive makes another sibilant, then use s's. In our programs we teach the following:

1. Write the word you want to show possession to without considering the possessive part: Donna (or McDonalds)

2. Ask yourself if it ends in an s. If it doesn't, add apostrophe s (Donna's desk). If the word does end in an s already, just place an apostrophe on the outside (McDonalds' fries).

Happy Presidents Day or Happy Presidents' Day!

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!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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! :)

day 119: happy father’s day

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!

day 107: showing possession

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

day 106: may holidays

May is halfway over! And so are May's holidays! Here is a list of the holidays for May, spelled and punctuated correctly:

*Mother's Day
   1. Remember, you have one mother--the day belongs to her...
   2. Show possession of mother by writing the singular word mother--doesn't end in an s, so we put 's to show possession to it***
  3. Cap M and cap D

*Memorial Day
   1. No s or 's in this holiday
   2. Cap M and cap D


***HINT: Do not worry about whether the word you want to show possession to is singular or plural.

day 46: happy presidents' day or president's day or presidents day?

Tomorrow is Presidents' Day. Or is that Presidents Day? Or President's 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"


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

So there you have it! More subjectivity in our English language. Happy Presidents' Day! And Happy Presidents Day!