Which is it, and which should it be?

[snoopercharmbrights]

"Mother's Day" or "Mothers' Day?"

In the UK we don't have the problem, since it is called "Mothering Sunday".

 

[_Lynn_]

I did an article some time ago on the origins of this day. "Mother's Day" is the spelling used then and again when it became an official holiday in the United States.

 

[CopperSkink]

In my personal logic, it's a day having to do with one's mother, not everyone's mother. Singular form.

 

[sr71plt]

No decision problem in U.S. publishing. It's given as "Mother's Day" in the Chicago Manual of Style. (8.95)

 

[CopperSkink]

Now let's make it complicated. Suppose a given character has two mothers. What do? Would that person refer to the day as Mothers' Day? Would it matter, given that you can't hear the difference? And what if you wished to further refer to everyone in your life that was a mother, including a sister or a daughter? Would it become useful to, at such a time, refer to it in the plural, with acknowedgement to the official calander name?

 

[sr71plt]

The name is for the day, not the mothers. (Otherwise it woudn't be capitalized.)

 

[_Lynn_]

Now let's make it complicated. Suppose a given character has two mothers. What do? Would that person refer to the day as Mothers' Day? Would it matter, given that you can't hear the difference? And what if you wished to further refer to everyone in your life that was a mother, including a sister or a daughter? Would it become useful to, at such a time, refer to it in the plural, with acknowedgement to the official calander name?

The day is Mother's Day, regardless if you call one person or ten your mother. You still celebrate it as Mother's Day.

 

[Guest]

Now let's make it complicated. Suppose a given character has two mothers. What do? Would that person refer to the day as Mothers' Day? Would it matter, given that you can't hear the difference? And what if you wished to further refer to everyone in your life that was a mother, including a sister or a daughter? Would it become useful to, at such a time, refer to it in the plural, with acknowedgement to the official calander name?

It shouldn't matter, I think. The calendar lists it as Mother's Day. The number of mothers that you have or choose to have should make no difference to the calendar. if you are referring to it as a posessive (my mothers' day) then you would differentiate between it and the holiday with a lowercase 'm' and a possessive phrase like "my".

I think that's right.

~Paul

 

[Guest]

"Mother's Day" or "Mothers' Day?"

In the UK we don't have the problem, since it is called "Mothering Sunday".

Not knowing a damn thing about life in the UK, do you run into the same problem with Father's Day?

~Paul

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

Thank you, everyone.

As to multiple mothers for one individual, I did have lunch on Mothering Sunday one year in a foursome with three mothers, my own, my wife and my sister.

I suppose the Editor's Forum has a possessive singular for the same reason, and that this is yet another US usage which will make its way eventually into the CMS.

Not knowing a damn thing about life in the UK, do you run into the same problem with Father's Day?

~Paul

No - it hardly exists, despite the efforts of the greetings card industry.

 

[Guest]

No - it hardly exists, despite the efforts of the greetings card industry.

Wow. That is interesting to know. Thank you.

~Paul

 

[CopperSkink]

Having long since fired my own mother, I don't do Mother's Day any no more. I also don't do Hallmark Day, Pink Hearts Day, or Paint Eggs Day. Who's with me?

Bearing that in mind, I suddenly have this strong urge to read a Mother's Day story containing one wife, one sister, and one mother. If one exists, somebody kindly point it out.

 

[sr71plt]

I suppose the Editor's Forum has a possessive singular for the same reason, and that this is yet another US usage which will make its way eventually into the CMS.

A little late, since, as I posted, it's already in the CMS. (8.95) (A little hard to keep up with discussions if you don't read them.)

 

[evanslily]

Re Father's Day in the UK

.

No - it hardly exists, despite the efforts of the greetings card industry.

I wouldn't say that. Having taken a quick straw poll, it seems most of the people I know recognise it as a special day. It's perhaps not as celebrated as Mothering Sunday (barely anyone I know actually calls it that, by the way - we seem to have moved to Mother's Day too, just as in the US), but it definitely exists.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

Re Father's Day in the UK

No - it hardly exists, despite the efforts of the greetings card industry.

I wouldn't say that. Having taken a quick straw poll, it seems most of the people I know recognise it as a special day. It's perhaps not as celebrated as Mothering Sunday (barely anyone I know actually calls it that, by the way - we seem to have moved to Mother's Day too, just as in the US), but it definitely exists.

From your answer I take it that you are probably less than half my age? And how many of those who "recognise it as a special day" can tell you when it occurs, and why that date?

 

[evanslily]

From your answer I take it that you are probably less than half my age? And how many of those who "recognise it as a special day" can tell you when it occurs, and why that date?

Hmm...

A lady never reveals her age (but as I ain't no lady, between you and me, maybe not quite )

No one to ask today (and I'm not planning on going out - it's an ice rink out there ) but for my own part, off the top of my head, it's always about the second or third Sunday in June. But admittedly, I have no idea why.

 

[ishtat]

Hmm...

but for my own part, off the top of my head, it's always about the second or third Sunday in June. But admittedly, I have no idea why.

Mothering Sunday is always the 4th Sunday in Lent ( the Sunday before Palm Sunday) which means that in 2010 it will be 14th March. The latest it can be would be about the end of the first week in April

Whit Sunday also known as Pentecost falls on the 7th Sunday after Easter and that is in May or June. maybe that's why you were thinking of June

 

[sr71plt]

Mothering Sunday is always the 4th Sunday in Lent ( the Sunday before Palm Sunday) which means that in 2010 it will be 14th March. The latest it can be would be about the end of the first week in April

Whit Sunday also known as Pentecost falls on the 7th Sunday after Easter and that is in May or June. maybe that's why you were thinking of June

Wasn't the question about Father's Day, not Mother's Day?

 

[Guest]

Wasn't the question about Father's Day, not Mother's Day?

That it was.

 

[evanslily]

Re Father's Day

No - it hardly exists, despite the efforts of the greetings card industry.

I wouldn't say that. Having taken a quick straw poll, it seems most of the people I know recognise it as a special day. It's perhaps not as celebrated as Mothering Sunday (barely anyone I know actually calls it that, by the way - we seem to have moved to Mother's Day too, just as in the US), but it definitely exists.

From your answer I take it that you are probably less than half my age? And how many of those who "recognise it as a special day" can tell you when it occurs, and why that date?

No one to ask today (and I'm not planning on going out - it's an ice rink out there ) but for my own part, off the top of my head, it's always about the second or third Sunday in June. But admittedly, I have no idea why.

Wasn't the question about Father's Day, not Mother's Day?

See what happens when you don't quote posts? Still, at least I've learnt how to multiquote now. It's only taken 2 and a half years...

It seems that Father's Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June in a lot of countries (including the US and the UK). The UK doesn't seem to have a reason of its own to celebrate the day - we've just adopted it from the US.

Ishtat is of course correct about why Mothering Sunday is celebrated when it is.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

A little history

On http://www.anniversaryideas.co.uk/Mothers-day/Mothers-Day-UK.asp it says:

History of Mothering Sunday

Most Sundays in the year churchgoers would worship at their nearest parish or "daughter church".

In olden times it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church at least once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their "mother" church.

As the return to the "mother" church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away from home returned. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home to work in service from ten years of age.) The majority of historians think that it was this return to the "Mother" church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.

This special day has now become a time when people give thanks to their mothers and offers an opportunity to express both love and thanks for the work that they do.

 

[pointless]

On http://www.anniversaryideas.co.uk/Mothers-day/Mothers-Day-UK.asp it says:

History of Mothering Sunday

Most Sundays in the year churchgoers would worship at their nearest parish or "daughter church".

In olden times it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church at least once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their "mother" church.

As the return to the "mother" church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away from home returned. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home to work in service from ten years of age.) The majority of historians think that it was this return to the "Mother" church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.

This special day has now become a time when people give thanks to their mothers and offers an opportunity to express both love and thanks for the work that they do.

rutabaga?