There was lots of confusion on GoComics this morning, with a few transatlantic readers thinking the holiday Smith refers to in today's cartoon was the 4th of July. Of course, Smith is using the word in its British sense of 'vacation'. I think 'holiday' must still mean vacation in the States, other wise Holiday Inn would be a chain of hotels that only open for business on Mondays every eight weeks or so.
Kemmons Wilson, who founded the Holiday Inn motel chain in 1952, named them for the movie "Holiday Inn" (1942).
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, a nightclub performer says that holidays mean extra work because you have to do two shows that day instead of one. When he semi-retires, he opens an inn that's only open on holidays.
It's been a long time since I've watched the movie, but I think he mentions there are 14 a year. I know there's a legal holiday every month except August, and some months have two. Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday were separate then (now they're combined into President's Day). November has Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving. December has Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Holiday is a one day thing, Vacation is several days to several weeks.
ReplyDeleteSo a holiday would be Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Easter, etc. We use the word differently I guess, here in the States.