Happy holidays, everyone!

[Reaves]

wow that is pretty intense. "Hey look, I just ate the state senate!!"

[Eerongal]

wow that is pretty intense. "Hey look, I just ate the state senate!!"

heh, you calling it intense immediately brought one thought to mind.

XTREME CAKE EATING!!![/i]

This is cake eating wherein you have to eat cake while snowboarding on a monster truck made out of vipers through a snowy mountain side covered in hot lava. Or something there abouts.

[Shaggy]

Know what would be awesome?? XTREME CAKE EATING OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!!! LOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!

[Frog]

Happy Valentines/Single Awareness Day everyone! Maybe we'll get some cake out of it anyway....

[Necroben]

Always been a confussing day for me.  Well, when I was younger anyhow.

Happy Valentines Day!

[Shaggy]

I've always wondered this, but have never taken the energy to actually find out… is the holiday called 'Valentines Day' or 'Valentine's Day'??

[Eerongal]

I've always wondered this, but have never taken the energy to actually find out… is the holiday called 'Valentines Day' or 'Valentine's Day'??

It was originally called "Saint Valentine's Day", but now people just call it Valentine's day, with the ' i think.

[maxonennis]

I've always wondered this, but have never taken the energy to actually find out… is the holiday called 'Valentines Day' or 'Valentine's Day'??

It was originally called "Saint Valentine's Day", but now people just call it Valentine's day, with the ' i think.

It's still St. Valentine's Day, but corporations take the St. off because if people realize that it's a Catholic holiday they will lose a lot of business from non-Catholics.

[SarahG]

Holiday names and apostrophes confuse me.  For instance, is it Mothers Day or Mother's Day or Mothers' Day?

• If we think of it as a day to celebrate mothers, or a day in which mothers are the theme, then we would use the adjectival form and say Mothers Day.  This would be a similar concept to Independence Day, Memorial Day, or Thanksgiving Day.
  
• If we think of it as a day belonging to one particular mother (presumably mine), we would use the singular possessive and call it Mother's Day.  This would be like Someone's Birthday.
  
• If we think of it as a day belonging to all mothers, then we would use the plural possessive and call it Mothers' Day.  This would be like the twins' or the octuplets' birthday.

I like the first and third options, but I can never decide which I prefer.  Whichever we use, though, we ought to be consistent and apply the same apostrophe pattern to holidays like Fathers(') Day, Veterans(') Day, All Saints(') Day, and Grandparents(') Day.

This brings us to February 14.  As Eerongal pointed out, the original name was St. Valentine's Day - so, etymologically speaking, the singular possessive form seems correct even when the St. part is dropped.  However, I might argue that either of the other forms could also be correct, if you think of the word valentine as having evolved to mean "special someone".  In this sense, the holiday can be seen as either celebrating or belonging to those special people in our lives whom we love - so it could be Valentines Day or Valentines' Day.

[Eerongal]

Holiday names and apostrophes confuse me.  For instance, is it Mothers Day or Mother's Day or Mothers' Day?

If we think of it as a day to celebrate mothers, or a day in which mothers are the theme, then we would use the adjectival form and say Mothers Day.  This would be a similar concept to Independence Day, Memorial Day, or Thanksgiving Day.

If we think of it as a day belonging to one particular mother (presumably mine), we would use the singular possessive and call it Mother's Day.  This would be like Someone's Birthday.

If we think of it as a day belonging to all mothers, then we would use the plural possessive and call it Mothers' Day.  This would be like the twins' or the octuplets' birthday.

I like the first and third options, but I can never decide which I prefer.  Whichever we use, though, we ought to be consistent and apply the same apostrophe pattern to holidays like Fathers(') Day, Veterans(') Day, All Saints(') Day, and Grandparents(') Day.

This brings us to February 14.  As Eerongal pointed out, the original name was St. Valentine's Day - so, etymologically speaking, the singular possessive form seems correct even when the St. part is dropped.  However, I might argue that either of the other forms could also be correct, if you think of the word valentine as having evolved to mean "special someone".  In this sense, the holiday can be seen as either celebrating or belonging to those special people in our lives whom we love - so it could be Valentines Day or Valentines' Day.

this, here, is one of my major beefs with the english language. The fact that it is one of the most (THE most? i think it is, but i could be wrong) languages in existence, because there are so many rules that, when taken independently, have no overall impact, and convey their meaning without a doubt. However, at some point, the rules begin to overlap, and through speech and writing, the words original intent can become muddled.

This happens anytime you introduce a rules-intensive system. Eventually, they start stepping on one another's toes, and start causing problems. Language is no different. Since language is the art of communication, individual understandings get flipped and changed as to how one perceives what was meant.

[The Jade Knight]

Wrong thread for that.

[GreenMonsta]

Ok so back to the happy holidays. . . . . St. Patricks Day is coming up there folks!!! I know it might not be that important to everyone but it is a huge one for me. Let us all gather around a pitcher of green beer and listen to bagpipes while we dress in green and skip work on a Tuesday to get drunk while the sun is still up. Yay!!!

[Shaggy]

Today is the most important holiday of all…………CHUCK NORRIS'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!! YEAHHH!!!!!!!!

(He's 69.)

[The Jade Knight]

I celebrated St. David's day.  Probably won't celebrate St. Patrick's.

[Eerongal]

I celebrated St. David's day.  Probably won't celebrate St. Patrick's.

My family is Scott-Irish, so we celebrate it. We always make a big meal out of corn beef and cabbage!