Re: Stupid Question of the day

Subject: Re: Stupid Question of the day
From: Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:02:18 -0800

On 2/11/2010 9:24 AM, Wade Courtney wrote:
> Is it?
>
> President's Day
> Presidents' Day or
> Presidents Day?

The question is not so stupid, given the confusion in the replies that
you have received. There is no "Presidents Day" or any variation. The
federal holiday that is called "Presidents Day" is Washington's
Birthday. For something like this, I would not rely on a style guide or
familiar usage, but go straight to the source of the holiday.

http://main.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2010.asp

> This holiday is designated as "Washington's Birthday" in section
> 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that
> specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions
> such as state and local governments and private businesses may use
> other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names
> designated in the law.

If a particular state or local government uses "Presidents Day" and that
holiday is the subject of the documentation, then I would use the term
specified by that government. If I had no resources to reference, then I
would avoid using the possessive for the day, since the day is for
recognizing presidential birthdays and not a day belonging to
presidents. So it is similar to "Veterans Day," in that respect.

Lauren



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Are you looking for one documentation tool that does it all? Author,
build, test, and publish your Help files with just one easy-to-use tool.
Try the latest Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 risk-free for 30-days at:
http://www.doctohelp.com/

Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at:
http://www.ModernAnalyst.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat


Follow-Ups:

References:
Stupid Question of the day: From: Wade Courtney
RE: Stupid Question of the day: From: Chinell, David F (GE EntSol, Security)
Re: Stupid Question of the day: From: Peter Neilson
Re: Stupid Question of the day: From: john

Previous by Author: Re: Contract Advice Needed, Quick! Can someone read this & provide an opinion?
Next by Author: Re: my bad displays habit
Previous by Thread: Re: Stupid Question of the day
Next by Thread: RE: Stupid Question of the day


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads