Holidays: To Apostrophe, or Not to Apostrophe?
In the weeks following William Shakespeare’s April 23 birthday, I like to revisit some of my favorite moments in his collected works. One of those moments is King Henry’s St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
From Henry V, Act IV, Scene III
Reading this speech on Mother’s Day, the theatre lover in me geeked out just a little over my memory of Kenneth Branagh’s swoon-worthy film performance. Meanwhile, the nerdy proofreader in me pondered how St. Crispin’s Day and Mother’s Day sport apostrophes. Many holiday monikers do not—or do they? Thus, Shakespeare didst inspired a discussion of the use or absence of apostrophes in holiday titles, but this blog entry will focus on American holidays. After all, our 250th birthday deserves a little apostrophe love.
New Year’s Day/New Year’s Eve
“New Year’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve” confound even the soberest designated driver in any country. It is officially a possessive; think of the eve and the day as belonging to the new year. Sometimes people leave out the eve or day part and just write “New Year’s,” as in, “We’ll spend New Year’s with my sister.” Yes, that requires an apostrophe as it’s still possessive. Keep in mind that the apostrophe also goes with “resolutions,” but since resolutions are not part of the holiday, do not capitalize the R. Just write “New Year’s resolutions.”
Wait, there’s more!
The correct greeting for the day is “Happy New Year,” not “Happy New Year’s” or “Happy New Years.” First, it’s just one year. One. Only. No S. And nobody owns the new year. It’s a wish that is freely given, so no possessive.
No apostrophe or capital letters are needed when you write “the new year” as in, “We look forward to expanding our menu in the new year.” In this case, it is not the holiday, it’s just a noun phrase. It’s the whole shebang of the incoming year.
Mother’s Day/Father’s Day
Mother’s Day was founded by Anna Jarvis and made a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. Ms. Jarvis considered it a tribute to the one woman who raised her. One mother, one day that is hers, a singular possessive title: Mother’s Day.
Inspired by Mother’s Day, the first Father’s Day was celebrated in 1910, but it was only made a national holiday in 1979. Again, one day for one dad; ergo, the singular possessive title: Father’s Day.
Singular Possessive Holidays
In this category, we have days that commemorate one person, historic or romantic.
Martin Luther King’s Birthday, a holiday in most states that falls in January, celebrates the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. A little confusion comes with how we use the apostrophe when we talk about the singular leader and his birthday, but the holiday is referred to as Martin Luther King Day with no apostrophe. Some states augment the importance of the day and add “Civil Rights Day” after a slash. I distinguish the two by thinking “birthday” gets the present of an apostrophe.
Valentine’s Day has been around since the 14th century, and the day belongs to St. Valentine. Well, originally it belonged to a whole lot of people and some pretty outrageous fertility rituals, but we’ll keep it PG and credit it to St. Valentine. While it started in England, America embraced the date as a secular holiday. A group of enthusiastic businessmen held a massacre on this date in 1929, but that’s another story. Think of giving Cupid’s messenger an apostrophe fig leaf.
St. Patrick’s Day arrives in March and traditionally honors the saint who brought us the symbolic shamrock, the ridding of snakes, and all things Irish. This is practically a holy day in my family’s Irish heritage dedicated to making Irish soda bread and enjoying the spirits of the day. Consider the apostrophe Paddy’s shillelagh.
Plural Possessive Holidays
These days belong to a group of folks, so remember the rule for plural possessives: add an S to make the noun plural and follow with an apostrophe. And that’s it. These include:
April Fools’ Day
Patriots’ Day (Okay, so maybe this is only celebrated in Massachusetts, but can you blame them? I mean, after all, our reason for our 250th started there!)
All Saints’ Day
Is It Presidents Day, President’s Day, or Presidents’ Day?
The short answer: it depends.
The AP Stylebook claims “Presidents Day” has no apostrophe, making it a descriptive phrase.
My go-to style guide is the Chicago Manual of Style, which uses the plural possessive “Presidents’ Day.”
Depending on the state you live in, the government might use the singular possessive “President’s Day.”
Best advice? Check where you and/or your characters live and ask a copyeditor!
To add a little confusion to this, Presidents’ Day was created to honor the combined birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. When you write out their individual days, it’s singular possessive: Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday.
Veterans Day
This is one holiday the national government firmly codes its correct spelling. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Day does not belong to veterans; rather, it is a day when citizens honor veterans. No possessive, no apostrophe.
Shakespeare on Holidays
When writing about holidays, official or not, it’s always best to check resources and style guides as well as regional and international takes on the specific day. Make it easy on yourself, and bear in mind that Shakespear also said:
If all the year were playing holidays,/To sport would be as tedious as to work.
From Henry IV, Part 1, Act 1, Scene 2