Holidays

Holidays

In British English “holiday” is the word we use to mean a period of time when someone doesn’t have to go to work or school.

The equivalent word in American English is “vacation”.

In British English we use the word in various ways. For example:

• There are three main “school holidays” a year. The longest – about six weeks is the “summer holiday”. Schools normally close for the summer holiday between late July and early September. (Although in Scotland the summer holiday is usually earlier.) Schools also close for about two weeks for the Christmas holiday and for another two weeks for the Easter holiday. These three holidays divide the school year into three terms. Schools also close for around a week about half-way during each term. We call these closures “half-term holidays”.
• Workers are usually entitled to “annual holidays”, meaning that they are able to stay away from work for a certain amount of time each year. The length of their annual holidays depends on the nature of their job and the policy of their employer, but typically people are allowed a total of between three and six weeks each year. Some people can choose when to take their annual holidays; others must take them when the employer decides. Normally they can only take up to two weeks at a time.
• A “bank holiday” is a day when banks, schools and many businesses throughout the country are closed. The usual bank holidays in England are: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May Bank Holiday (the first Monday in May), Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May), Summer Bank Holiday (the last Monday in August), Christmas Day (25 December), and Boxing Day (26 December). In Scotland there are also bank holidays on St. Andrew’s Day (November 30) and Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve – 31 December). In Northern Ireland there is a bank holiday for St. Patrick’s Day (March 17). In Wales, the Early May Bank Holiday is on the first Friday of May instead of the first Monday. Bank holidays are sometimes referred to as “public holidays”. They are usually in addition to someone’s annual holiday. Occasionally there is an extra bank holiday to mark a particular event such as a royal wedding or a coronation.
• When people don’t have to go to work, they say that they are “on holiday”. Thay might also say something like “I’m taking a holiday next week”.
• When people go away during a holiday period, they say that they are “on our holidays”. They might say something like “this year we will be spending our holidays at the seaside”.

Although “vacation” is mostly an American English word, it is also sometimes used in British English – usually to mean a time when a university is closed for a holiday: “The summer vacation starts next week”.

In American English, “holiday” is used to mean a day or period of particular celebration. Such holidays include religious celebrations such as Christmas, Passover, Ramadan or Thanksgiving. Other US holidays include Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans’ Day and Martin Luther King Day.

For more about holidays see here.

Posted by Graham