With the advent of the ubiquitous hashtag on social media, it seems everything (or everyone) can become a national holiday. Seriously. On the date of this writing, it is #NationalTakeAHikeDay. Now, who knew there was such a thing? Who invented it? Are there T-shirts and bumper stickers, too?
Nonetheless, we know a good bandwagon when we see one. It’s time for some Dictionary.com national holidays. We’re lining up the first batch right here. Get ready to celebrate.
Simply put, we can’t not think of a good reason not to have this one. Lock it in for December 1st, right in the middle of all of those holiday get togethers and office parties. You’ll be feeling negative, maybe even double negative, about your packed social calendar and low bank account, so now’s the time to use ’em without judgment. However, on December 2nd, grammar reigns supreme; only one negative in a row please.
Long words get a bum rap, mainly because the longer they are, the harder the pronunciation. We find this to be unfair. After all, they didn’t ask to have all those letters. We think September is a good month, since it’s the month with the most letters (nine). Let’s go with the third Monday in September.Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis will have its day!
Some authors have provided us with very memorable quotes, and we want a day to use them freely! Example: from Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel Gone With The Wind, courtesy of the always-dashing Rhett Butler, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Yep, that’s a keeper alright. We’re going to make this holiday on February 1st, since that, my dear, is Clark Gable’s birthday.
You learned this tried-and-true spelling rule in first grade before you even knew where the lunchroom was located. It’s true, this is a time when spelling seems obsolete due to spell check and acronyms; however, if you’ve ever used auto correct, you know that there’s room for improvement. And so, National I Before E Except After C Day is here to remind us all that spelling is still important. And, with a spelling holiday on the first day of September, we’re primed for back to school.
Can a holiday have a contraction in it? It doesn’t matter, ours does. How many times have you seen people mess this one up in correspondence? We may need more than a day for this holiday, maybe a month to drive this one home? There’s always May.
Terrific holiday. Great for getting laughs. July 5th for this. Piggyback on the bigger (for now) holiday the day before.
(Is it just us or do most text messages sadly resemble this series of sentence fragments?) National End Sentence Fragment Day will stop unnecessary fragments once and for all! Hey, a dictionary can dream.
Obviously, one of our core functions at Dictionary.com is to inform you, the reader, as to the meanings of words. We’re also here to educate about proper word usage, and that of course includes grammar. We’ll tuck this one in on September 2nd, right after #NationalIBeforeEExceptAfterCDay, since schools can equally benefit here. And no, we’re not going to propose a “Poor Grammar Day.” Isn’t that every day in this social-media age?
We’re adding this one to our list because these words are a fun concept. We define them as “a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as heir and air.” How many homophones can you think of? Let us know on April 2nd, no foolin’.
This one’s held every four years on January 20th. You should only capitalize it as a title before an individual’s name or when directly addressing a person in that role. Ay, ay captain!
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