The word
holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries, with the exception of the United States where usage differs greatly. Based on the
English words holy and
day, holidays originally represented special days of the
Christian Church calendar. The word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day.
In the United States, a
holiday is a day set aside by a
nation or
culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for
celebration but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observation or activity. In the United States, a holiday can also be a special day on which school and/or offices are closed such as Labor Day.
In most of the rest of the English speaking world (including
Australia,
Canada,
Ireland,
New Zealand,
South Africa, and the
United Kingdom) a holiday is rather a period spent away from home or business in
travel or
recreation (e.g. "I'm going on holiday to
Majorca next week."), the American equivalent being "
vacation".
Public holidays
A
public holiday or
legal holiday is a holiday endorsed by the
state. Public holidays can be either religious, in which case they reflect the dominant
religion in a country, or secular, in which case they are usually political or historical in character. "Public Holiday" is the term used in Australia, and "Bank Holiday" in the UK, although some industries in the UK work through Bank Holidays. "Legal Holiday" is not a term used outside the United States.
Consecutive holidays
Consecutive holidays are a string of holidays taken together without working days in between. They tend to be considered a good chance to take short trips, for example. In late
1990s, the
Japanese government passed a law that increases the likelihood of consecutive holidays by moving holidays fixed on certain day to a relative position in a month such as the second Monday. A well-known consecutive holiday in Japan is
golden-week, roughly lasting a whole week. Similar phenomenon appears in
Poland during holidays of 1st and 3rd of May, when taking few days of
leave can result in even
9 days long holidays. This is called The
Picnic (or Majówka).
The
Congress of the United States changed the observance of
Memorial Day,
Veterans Day, and
Washington's Birthday from fixed dates to certain
Mondays in 1968 (effective 1971). Several states had passed similar laws earlier.
Religious holidays
Buddhist holidays
In the order of the Wheel of the Year:
- Samhain (Celtic): 31 October-1 November, Celtic New Year, first day of winter
- Winternights (Norse): 29 October-2 November, Norse New Year
- Yule (Norse): 21 December-22 December, winter solstice, Celtic mid-winter
- Imbolc (Celtic): 1 February-2 February, Celtic first day of spring
- Ostara/Easter (Norse): 21 March-22 march, vernal equinox, Celtic mid-spring
- Beltane (Celtic): 30 April-1 May, Celtic first day of summer
- Litha (Norse): 21 June-22 June, summer solstice, Celtic mid-summer
- Lughnasadh (Celtic): 1 August-2 August, Celtic first day of autumn
- Mabon/Harvest End (Norse): 21 September-22 September, autumnal equinox, Celtic mid-fall
See also liturgical year.
The Catholic
fiestas patronales are celebrated in each place's patron saint's day, according to the
Calendar of saints.
Main article: Jewish holidays
National holidays
See the
list of holidays by country.
International holidays (secular)
Many other days are marked to celebrate events or people, but are not strictly holidays as time off work is rarely given.
Other secular holidays
Other secular holidays limited to only some (groups of) countries include:
Humorous, entertaining holidays
Some humorous events have captured the attention of the public, to the point where they have been promoted as annual events. These "funny" holidays are generally intended as humorous distractions and excuses to share laughs among friends.
See also
External links
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