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Calendar and Time Designations

Posted by Phil Jamieson on Tue, Aug 09, 2011 @ 04:30
  
  
  
  

CalendarIn the United States, one of our major holidays is Independence Day, also referred to as the Fourth of July. In neighboring Canada, as anywhere else outside America, the same day is noted simply the fourth of July, of course. (Yes, they have a fourth of July in Canada.) What about capitalizing (or capitalising) other calendar and time designations? Here is a list we hope you find useful.

Seasons:

  • summer; fall; winter; spring
  • the winter solstice
  • the vernal equinox

Holidays and Special Days:

  • All Fool's Day (celebrated by few if any GT readers)
  • Christmas Day
  • Father's Day
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • National Poetry Month
  • Presidents' Day
  • Remembrance Day
  • Anzac Day (Australia/New Zealand)
  • Lincoln's Birthday
  • Yom Kippur
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Good Friday
  • Easter Monday (Australia/New Zealand)
  • Saint Patrick's Day

     but

  • D-day
  • election day
  • inauguration day

Time and Time Zones:

  • eastern standard time; EST
  • central daylight time; CDT
  • Pacific daylight time; PDT
  • Alaskan daylight time; ADT
  • Greenwich mean time; GMT
  • daylight saving time
  • New Zealand standard time; NZST
Tags: , , ,

Comments

All looks good, but D day? Boy, does that look wrong. It sticks out like a sore thumb. Not sure I would use that. Can you explain?
Posted @ Tuesday, August 09, 2011 8:26 by Katherine Andes
I wish I could red-pen every car, furniture, and department store advertisement for the entire month of February. I get so tired of seeing ads for President's Day! Thanks for including that.
Posted @ Tuesday, August 09, 2011 9:02 by Pam
Quite right! It's D-day, and it must be hyphenated, per Merriam-Webster Collegiate. I think that was a typo. Thank you for spotting it! PJ
Posted @ Tuesday, August 09, 2011 9:24 by Phil Jamieson
It looks odd to me that the word "Birthday" is capitalized in "Lincoln's Birthday." Would the same rationale apply to Washington's birthday or Jefferson's birthday? And what is the rantionale?
Posted @ Tuesday, August 09, 2011 10:31 by Elaine Campbell
It's not Fathers' Day?
Posted @ Tuesday, August 09, 2011 11:44 by M Partain
The day itself is a holiday, so the complete name is capped. My birthday is NOT a holiday, so July 5 is simply Phil's birthday. It's cool being one of the only two presidents (Washington and Lincoln) whose birthday is a recognized holiday. Poor President Jefferson doesn't have the privilege, so April 13 is just Thomas Jefferson's birthday. In many Southern states, Robert E. Lee's birthday was commonly a holiday 50 years ago or so, and the holiday was called Robert E. Lee's Birthday. 
 
 
 
As for the third Sunday in June, it is Father's Day. I guess so you will know to honor your own father, not all fathers. Same with Mother's Day. 
 
 
 
And to come full circle, remember that the third Monday in February is Presidents' Day. That's a plural - celebrating the birthdays of two presidents, Washington and Lincoln. 
 
 
 
You can always look these things up in the Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary.
Posted @ Tuesday, August 09, 2011 12:13 PM by Phil Jamieson
Thanks for correcting what I've gotten wrong in the past- Mother's Day and Father's Day.
Posted @ Thursday, August 11, 2011 12:55 PM by Sarah Abts
Thank you for reviewing common calendar dates and time zones. Amazing how we can sometimes forget even the most common usage. Makes me wonder if I've been using Presidents' Day correctly, so now I'll watch carefully.
Posted @ Thursday, August 11, 2011 3:54 PM by Christel Hall
Surely there is not a "rantionale" for capitalizing Lincoln's Birthday? (Apologies, Elaine)
Posted @ Friday, December 02, 2011 10:50 by susan campbell
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