1blakelylaw
Is it properly "Mother's Day" or "Mothers' Day?" "Father's Day" vs. Fathers' Day" "Veteran's Day" vs. "Veterans' Day"
Of course, a lot of web sites and signs don't bother at all with the apostrophe.
I find myself vacillating between the singular and the plural. Clearly, in a Hallmark store display, I believe it should be "Mothers' Day," and, frankly, I tend to think of the phrase as properly being plural because the day is for all mothers.
I have always been curious about other people's thoughts; then it dawned on me that this was the perfect place for posting my quandary!
Of course, a lot of web sites and signs don't bother at all with the apostrophe.
I find myself vacillating between the singular and the plural. Clearly, in a Hallmark store display, I believe it should be "Mothers' Day," and, frankly, I tend to think of the phrase as properly being plural because the day is for all mothers.
I have always been curious about other people's thoughts; then it dawned on me that this was the perfect place for posting my quandary!
2lilithcat
>1 blakelylaw:
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, it's "Veterans Day" - no apostrophe.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, it's "Veterans Day" - no apostrophe.
3thorold
The Church of England used to call it “Mothering Sunday”, neatly sidestepping the question.
The proper curmudgeonly response would probably be that none of these calendar entries has any traditional standing at all; they were all invented for commercial reasons by greeting card companies or florists. So true pedants are free to ignore them.
The proper curmudgeonly response would probably be that none of these calendar entries has any traditional standing at all; they were all invented for commercial reasons by greeting card companies or florists. So true pedants are free to ignore them.
4blakelylaw
>3 thorold: You're absolutely correct about the greeting card companies and florists, and I am all for being a proper curmudgeon. Nonetheless, I shudder at the thought of any of us trying to explain to our mother that this is the reason for ignoring the day. LOL! For that matter, had the day been ignored for that, or any other reason, by my son or husband - let's just say life would have been very difficult in the house for a few days.
5MarthaJeanne
Please don't try to take me out to eat on Mothers Day when all the restaurants are full of people who ignore their mothers at least 350 days of the year. And I would value a call now and again on a different day because a son wanted to talk to me than one of these Happy Mothers Day calls with nothing to say.
7reading_fox
Mothering Sunday is somewhat different than the others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday
Originally it was to visit your 'mother church' where you'd been baptised. This became a day which servants were given off, nominally to do so with their families. So if you're shortening it to Mother's Day, it is possessive singular and takes the apostrophe.
Originally it was to visit your 'mother church' where you'd been baptised. This became a day which servants were given off, nominally to do so with their families. So if you're shortening it to Mother's Day, it is possessive singular and takes the apostrophe.
8abbottthomas
>7 reading_fox: A true pedant!
9GraceCollection
If you have multiple mothers, there's no reason to worry, as it will always be 'Mothers' Day' for you.
10blakelylaw
>9 GraceCollection: Excellent point in this era of blended families!
11Buchmerkur
>6 RaiyanBrown: This seems to me to be a reasonable distinction.
12Buchmerkur
>7 reading_fox: fascinating detail from historical context
13blakelylaw
>11 Buchmerkur: Too bad that we no longer know the nature of that distinction.
14Buchmerkur
Tom Hodgkinson somewhere in How to be idle writes about Christmas customs and wassailing as a form of having holiday, friends and family and what in German is Güterumverteilung (redistribution of goods) all in one. ;-) . As an annual custom it is better than a revolution any time, I'd say
