Monday, February 16, 2009

Happy P-Day!

Can someone please answer a question for me? Is it President's Day? Presidents' Day? or Presidents Day? Let's examine each scenario.
  1. President's Day -- A day designated to honor the current president.  The apostrophe indicating the president "owns" the day if you will.
  2. Presidents' Day -- A day designated to honor all presidents.  The apostrophe indicating the presidents "own" the day if you will.
  3. Presidents Day -- A day designated to honor presidents but no ownership is indicated because really how do you own a day?
This has bothered me for a while now and I've seen it all three ways.  Apparently I'm influenced by environmental print as much as the kids in my class are. I'm just glad it is a holiday.  I really need a day to catch up.

(Artwork is courtesy of a student in my class.  It was the cover of her final biography project on which she received an A.  I think she was trying to draw Abraham Lincoln in profile and not as an alien, but I could be wrong because he has somehow been transported through time where he is able to address large crowds using a microphone, with some sort of tufted pink, green, and yellow, cushion as a chair.  It doesn't matter.  I just thought it was darn cute.)
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4 comments:

  1. TinaFebruary 16, 2009 at 11:03 AM

    Enjoy your day off! Hope it is a day of catching up. I didn't even notice the different ways. So, with that, sorry I am not able to answer the question for you! :)

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  2. Kell's BellesFebruary 16, 2009 at 12:11 PM

    My dad tried to convince Chloe it was "Presents" day. I'm all for that!

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  3. The Garber FamilyFebruary 16, 2009 at 9:52 PM

    That is a SWEET picture.
    I've never thought about that apostrophe thing. But it BUGS me so much when an apostrophe is misused. Especially on signs businesses use for advertizing.

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  4. WendyFebruary 16, 2009 at 10:46 PM

    I think that we have Presidents Day (plural, no apostrophe) to celebrate George Washington's Birthday (apostrophe to denote possessive) and Lincoln's birthday (ibid). When I was a kid we got out of school for Washington's birthday AND Lincoln's birthday. Somewhere in the last 40 years, the two holidays were collapsed into one Presidents Day. Do you remember when I bought those rubber stamps with the Presidents on them? Lincoln, Washington..and four others. I still have those stupid things. You can have them if they would be helpful in any way!

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