today's question- what's the right title for the day? is it "father's day" or "fathers' day"? i don't think there's a right or wrong answer to this- like the posts on "myriad" here and here, i believe the ultimate answer is that they're both technically correct.
most of what i see used in print is the singular possessive ("father's"). the official holiday, first proclaimed by lyndon johnson and officially reproclaimed this year by president bush, assigns the title of "father's day". i would argue however that since we're celebrating all dads and not just one that the day should be more appropriately addressed in the plural possessive. someone out there must agree with me, because the wikipedia entry on father's day (titled using the singular) starts off with this comment:
- Although normal practice for English punctuation indicates that the holiday should be called "Fathers' Day" (as it is a plural possessive), common usage dictates that the ostensibly singular possessive "Father's Day" is the preferred spelling.
common usage be damned. band with me, my fellow grammarians. buck the trend and start recognizing all mothers and fathers by using the plural possessive when you send your best wishes. pledge your allegiance and make my fathers' day with a comment below.
1 comment:
Happy Daddies' Day, Fink!
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