# Holiday vs vacation



## titutan

Some times I mistake Holiday and vacation, the other day I was on this site englishclubclass.com and there was an article and it said Holiday in space. I got confused why he didn't wrote vacation in space. Whats the diffrence between holiday and Vacation? 

Thanks


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## soupdragon78

Hi titutan.
Vacation is American English and holiday is British English. Other than that the two words mean the same thing. Which word to use just depends on who you are talking to.
Hope this helps.
Soup


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## titutan

Hi thanks a lot, maybe I am used more to the world vacation because it could be the t.v and films i see are from u.s.a and so I dont know much about the birtsh words much. 

Thanks a lot!


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## MarcB

soupdragon78 said:
			
		

> Hi titutan.
> Vacation is American English and holiday is British English. Other than that the two words mean the same thing. Which word to use just depends on who you are talking to.
> Hope this helps.
> Soup


 This is correct. In Ae holiday is reserved for days that are of religious or national significance, they involve one or more days off from school or work.


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## Symbian

Hello
what's the difference between "holiday" and "vacation"?
maybe holiday is used in UK and vacation in US?
Thanks


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## Parergon

I believe that "vacation" is more used in US English.


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## Karl!!!!

Symbian said:


> Hello
> what's the difference between "holiday" and "vacation"?
> maybe holiday is used in UK and vacation in US?
> Thanks


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## Patapan

Hi, all,

There are exceptions. 'Holiday' is more commonly used in the UK, and means literally that - time off work to be spent doing whatever you want. 
'Vacation' here means again literally what it says - a place of work which is emptied of its inhabitants because they're on holiday. Thus in several British universities, the periods when students are not actually required to be on campus are known as 'vacation'. The assumption is that they may well still be working (!!!) but they're simply 'not present'. In Oxford, this is now abbreviated simply to 'the Vac'. The summer holidays are known there as 'the Long Vac'.

Sorry. Just thought I'd confuse everybody....

Patapan


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## languageGuy

Both terms are very common in the US, but they mean different things.

A holiday is a day off work or school. The day is chosen by the government or school (Christmas, Patriots Day, 4th of July, Labor Day).

A vacation you get to select the days.

There are exceptions to this.  Some school vacations are set by the school. They differ from holidays by being longer that a day off.


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## Symbian

languageGuy said:


> Both terms are very common in the US, but they mean different things.
> 
> A holiday is a day off work or school. The day is chosen by the government or school (Christmas, Patriots Day, 4th of July, Labor Day).
> 
> A vacation you get to select the days.
> 
> There are exceptions to this. Some school vacations are set by the school. They differ from holidays by being longer that a day off.


 
Ok, thanks all...
but, languageGuy, let's suppose that we meet in NYC and you ask me: " hi Nik, what are you doing here?" (better "here" or "in here"?)
What should I reply?  I'm in NYC for a short?... vacation or holiday?

Thanks again


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## SweetBird

Symbian said:


> Ok, thanks all...
> but, languageGuy, let's suppose that we meet in NYC and you ask me: " hi Nik, what are you doing here?" (better "here" or "in here"?)
> What should I reply? I'm in NYC for a short?... vacation or holiday?
> 
> Thanks again


 
I think that you can say either one and your meaning will be understood.

I'm in NYC on vacation. / I'm in NYC on a vacation. 

I'm in NYC on holiday./ I'm in NYC on a holiday.


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## Symbian

Ok, thanks a lot


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## Packard

Holiday and vacation mean different things in the USA and my understanding is somewhat different than Language Guy's understanding.

I get Holidays (days off from work). Holidays are granted, either by official government decree or by an employer's discretion.

I take a vacation. I take my vacation during the holiday. A vacation is how I utilize a holiday.

"What did you do during your holidays?" 
"What did you do on your vacation?" 
"Oh, the holidays? No vacation, I just stayed home and relaxed."


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## Brioche

Packard said:


> Holiday and vacation mean different things in the USA and my understanding is somewhat different than Language Guy's understanding.
> 
> I get Holidays (days off from work). Holidays are granted, either by official government decree or by an employer's discretion.
> 
> I take a vacation. I take my vacation during the holiday. A vacation is how I utilize a holiday.



Is this common US usage?

Here is a quote from the employment conditions of the Texas Department of Transportation:
Vacation Leave

As a TxDOT employee, you earn vacation hours based on your years of creditable state employment. You can use your vacation time after six months of continuous state service.

It would appear that for them, vacation is your days off work.


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## emma42

A quick overview of the most common usages of "holiday" in the UK:

Are you going on holiday this year?
Yes, we're going to Tenerife for two weeks.

Why are you not at school today?
Because it's the Easter Holidays

You had better finish that work today, because it's a Bank Holiday tomorrow and no one will be in the office.

You are so tanned!  Have you  been on a sunbed?
No, I've just got back from my holidays in Spain.


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## Packard

Brioche said:


> Is this common US usage?
> 
> Here is a quote from the employment conditions of the Texas Department of Transportation:
> Vacation Leave
> 
> As a TxDOT employee, you earn vacation hours based on your years of creditable state employment. You can use your vacation time after six months of continuous state service.
> 
> It would appear that for them, vacation is your days off work.


 
I think it is consistent with my explanation.   You earn [the right to take] vacation hours based on the your time of service.  In this case you take your vacation at your whim once it is earned.  Holidays, such as New Years Day, would be in addition to the vacation.  So there would still be a distinction of Holidays (granted) and vacation days (taken, earned).


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## AngelEyes

Packard said:


> Holiday and vacation mean different things in the USA and my understanding is somewhat different than Language Guy's understanding.
> 
> I get Holidays (days off from work). Holidays are granted, either by official government decree or by an employer's discretion.
> 
> I take a vacation. I take my vacation during the holiday. A vacation is how I utilize a holiday.


 


This is how I would interpret the AE viewpoint. If you used the word, "holiday" in place of "vacation" with me, I would think you're either a Canadian neighbor who's visiting (I live in a border state), or you're speaking BE.

Also, I don't see much of a difference in languageGuy's opinions with these. His pretty much jive with mine, too.  


*AngelEyes*


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## AWordLover

Brioche said:


> Is this common US usage?
> 
> Here is a quote from the employment conditions of the Texas Department of Transportation:
> Vacation Leave
> 
> As a TxDOT employee, you earn vacation hours based on your years of creditable state employment. You can use your vacation time after six months of continuous state service.
> 
> It would appear that for them, vacation is your days off work.


 
The use of holiday and vacation is quite complicated in the US. Often they can be used interchangably and there are many cases where they cannot.

In the example cited above, the vacation time would likely be in addition to the 8 to ten official holidays (for example, the 4th of July). Both vacation days and holidays are days when you do not go into work.


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## kenny4528

AngelEyes said:


> This is how I would interpret the AE viewpoint. If you used the word, "holiday" in place of "vacation" with me, I would think you're either a Canadian neighbor who's visiting (I live in a border state), or you're speaking BE.
> 
> Also, I don't see much of a difference in languageGuy's opinions with these. His pretty much jive with mine, too.
> 
> 
> *AngelEyes*


From the viewpoint of Asian, I agreed with what *AngelEyes *said.
What I was taught about ''holiday'' and ''vacation'' seems a BE/AE thing.


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## AKİN

what is the difference between holiday and vacation ?


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## Albert53

In America, a holiday is a day when businesses and so on are closed, for example, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July and so on.
A vacation in America is the time one take off from work or school and perhaps travels for rest and recreation.
Let's wait a minute for a Brit to come by, but I do belive they use the word "holiday" as the Americans use "vacation". I am not sure what they do with "vacation."
Albert

PS And I don't have any idea how the NZs or Australians use the terms. Maybe one will enlighten us. ;-)


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## Dimcl

AKİN said:


> what is the difference between holiday and vacation ?


 
Welcome to the forum, Akin.  If you were to type the words "holiday" and "vacation" into the Dictionary Look-up at the top of the page, this is one of the threads that you would find on the subject:

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=465601

You should always try that first because many, many subjects have been discussed more than once on the forum.


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## AKİN

I've just got back from my holidays in Spain. 

or

I've just got back from my holiday in Spain.  ??


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## bamboo--tw

We have decided to take a *vacation/rest/holiday*.
We have decided to be on leave.

Hi,
Do all of the bolded words fit in the above and mean about the same as the second? Thanks.


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## Istarion

Vacation and Holiday mean much the same, but holiday tends to be used more in BE while Vacation is definitely AE. "Rest", however, implies a much shorter break - a break in between two pieces of homework or a short nap in the afternoon, for example. Definitely not the same meaning as a holiday.
Also, "On leave" tends to mean you've been let off work by your boss so that you can take a holiday - so you can't "decide" to be on leave. However, you can ask your boss to "give you leave" - and then you can go on holiday.

Hope that makes sense,
I.


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## nikkieli

Hi, friends,In my English textbook titled "High Season", the word 'vacation' is listed as the American equivalent of the British 'holiday'. However, I repeatedly hear 'holiday' in American movies, though in British films 'vacation' is not the word that one would constantly hear to mean 'holiday'.My query is: is this really the case and if yes, how frequently would an average American use 'holiday' to mean 'vacation', and how frequently would an Englishman use 'vacation' to mean 'holiday'. What about Australia and Canada and other English-speaking countries?Thank you


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## suzi br

This English woman would never use vacation to mean holiday, although I know what it means and understand it when I hear US types say it.


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## George French

UK view.

Dictionaries give vacation as US-EN. Holiday has religious roots of course and as far as I know vacation doesn't.

In the UK there are offical holidays many of which are Christian "events" such as Easter and Christmas. Note that this dictionary's only reference to a religious connection is St. Patrick's day; Christmas doesn't even get a look in!

The use of "I'm going on holiday" next week is very common. People say I'm going away for the Xmas hols.

Vacation is also used in the UK, the exposure to the US version of the language is high.. Would secularisation of language in official written documents encourage the use of vacation?.

GF..

What % common use in UK? No idea.


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## cycloneviv

Did you try doing a forum search before posting? Many of your questions are answered in these previous threads:

Holiday or vacation?
Holiday vs vacation

As to what the preference is here in Australia, we still largely use "holiday", but would understand "vacation". I say "largely" because I hear a lot of AE terminology from the mouths of young whipper-snappers (that is, people under 20 or so).


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## Rover_KE

I'm with you, suzi br, on this one.

Rover
x


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## beccamutt

In *AE*:

*Holiday* = Christmas, Independence Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Chanakuh, Ramadan, Memorial Day, etc.
_Halloween is my favorite holiday because you get to wear costumes._
_There are many religious holidays in the month of December._


*Vacation* = Time spent away from work usually, and very often involving travel
_Where are you going on/for vacation? _
_I'm going to Italy for my vacation, but I'm going to France on business._
_I have ten vacation days each year (I have ten days off from work each year)._


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## GreenWhiteBlue

nikkieli said:


> is this really the case and if yes, how frequently would an average American use 'holiday' to mean 'vacation',


 
It is really the case.

The average American would rarely use the word "holiday" in place of "vacation". (Anyone who said "_where are you going on holiday this year_?" would be thought hugely affected, and would be laughted at.) That being said, the word "holiday" is used commonly in other ways.

_Easter is my favorite *holiday.*_
_The police had a program to crack down on drunk drivers over the Memorial Day* holiday* weekend._
_For my vacation this year I decided to have a Caribbean *holiday*._
_When we heard that we were getting a new boss, it felt like a *holiday*._


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## Scalloper

The only times I've heard "vacation" being used in Britan is by students to refer to the official end of term/year breaks at university.


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## Franzi

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> The average American would rarely use the word "holiday" in place of "vacation". (Anyone who said "_where are you going on holiday this year_?" would be thought hugely affected, and would be laughted at.) That being said, the word "holiday" is used commonly in other ways.


 
Agreed.  Americans don't use 'holiday' in place of 'vacation' (unless we're imitating someone else's dialect).


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## Rover_KE

It's much simpler here in the UK.

We never say 'vacation'.

Rover


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## TriglavNationalPark

Rover_KE said:


> It's much simpler here in the UK.
> 
> We never say 'vacation'.
> 
> Rover


 
Scalloper appears to contradict this two posts above.


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## fahad nasir

Thank you for this vital informations.


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## Brioche

Albert53 said:


> PS And I don't have any idea how the NZs or Australians use the terms. Maybe one will enlighten us. ;-)



Australian English is much the same BE with regard to "holiday".

We don't have "Bank holidays", but rather "Public Holidays", which vary a little from state to state.


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## Brioche

George French said:


> UK view.
> 
> Vacation is also used in the UK, the exposure to the US version of the language is high.. Would secularisation of language in official written documents encourage the use of vacation?.



I don't think secularisation [read: anti-religion in general and anti-Christianity in particular] will encourage the use of vacation over holiday.  Can you imagine anyone saying "The August Bank Vacation"?

Most people are not aware that _holiday_ comes from _holy day_. Nobody worries about the expressions "bird sactuary" or "whale sanctuary", which also come from the protection afforded by sanctuaries [holiest places] in churches.


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## JulianStuart

I think most people are quite likely to guess (because only one letter is different and even its replacement has the same sound) that holiday and holy day are related!!!

You are not suggesting that "secularization" can be defined as "anti-religion or anti-christianity", are you?


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## Copperknickers

'Vacation is also used in the UK, the exposure to the US version of the language is high.. Would secularisation of language in official written documents encourage the use of vacation?.'

We'd have to have quite a big overhaul of our language if we want to phase out all signs of religion from it. Holiday does not mean 'holy day' in any context. It would be literally incorrect to say 'St Andrews' day holiday' for example, because there is no holiday, there is only a holy day. 'Vacation' is an American word, only used in Britain when mimicking American speech and in its proper sense of the making vacant  of a location.


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## Packard

The official term for the U.S. Government is "holiday" apparently. 

See: http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2011.asp

"Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) establishes the following public holidays for Federal employees..."


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## JamesM

Yes, but federal employees get holidays off as well as vacation days.  It's not simply "holiday" vs. "vacation".

http://www.usgs.gov/ohr/student/benefit/benefits.html

"Employees earn annual leave at rates depending on their length of service. For their first three years of full-time employment, you earn 104 hours of *vacation* a year. "

As beccammut said, a few years back, we use both "holiday" and "vacation" in the U.S., but they mean different things.




beccamutt said:


> In *AE*:
> 
> *Holiday* = Christmas, Independence Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Chanakuh, Ramadan, Memorial Day, etc.
> _Halloween is my favorite holiday because you get to wear costumes._
> _There are many religious holidays in the month of December._
> 
> 
> *Vacation* = Time spent away from work usually, and very often involving travel
> _Where are you going on/for vacation? _
> _I'm going to Italy for my vacation, but I'm going to France on business._
> _I have ten vacation days each year (I have ten days off from work each year)._


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## Andygc

Copperknickers said:


> 'Vacation' is an American word, only used in Britain when mimicking American speech and in its proper sense of the making vacant  of a location.


That is definitely not true. British universities and law courts have vacations, not holidays.


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## JulianStuart

Copperknickers said:


> ... and in its proper sense of the making vacant of a location.


You are probably referring to universities and courts and the like for this usage? When I was at university, there were people there during the "vacation" so it was by no means vacant, only parts of it were.
As, perhaps, one's home might be vacant when one goes to one's aunty's house beside the seaside for the summer hols? Alternatively, some part (cubicle/office/workstation) of the workplace becomes vacant when someone goes on holiday - or vacation. It is simply a difference in usage, not an "improper" use in AmE


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## GreenWhiteBlue

Copperknickers said:


> 'Vacation' is an American word, only used in Britain when mimicking American speech and in its proper sense of the making vacant of a location.



As Andygc notes above, _vacation_ is not "an American word"; it has been used in Oxford and Cambridge Universities for centuries to mean the period between terms when no instruction is taking place. Three vacations occur each year at Oxford: the Christmas vacation, the Easter vacation, and the Long Vacation. 

I am always puzzled when I hear a word used for centuries in Britian branded as "an American word"; where are Americans supposed to have gotten the word from, anyway? In the matter of "vacation", note that the customs in American universities generally derive from the customs of the earliest colleges in North America, which were founded by graduates of both the ancient English universities, and most especially (at least in the case of Harvard College) by graduates of Cambridge. The terminology of Oxford and Cambridge (including "vacation") thus spread to American universities, and from there to American public schools generally, and from public schools into society at large.


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## Fabulist

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> I am always puzzled when I hear a word used for centuries in Britian branded as "an American word"; where are Americans supposed to have gotten the word from, anyway?



American English has a number of non-English word sources, including American Indian language words for animals and geographic  phenomena not found in Great Britain (opossum, raccoon), Spanish for southwestern geographic features not found in Great Britain (arroyo, mesa), cultural objects and phenomena adapted from the non-European inhabitants of  North America (kayak), and words from many other languages, just as British English has picked up words from the native languages of their former colonies, especially India, that are unfamiliar to Americans.  "Vacation" is not one of these words, however.  Sometimes, American English preserves a word that British English has abandoned, and sometimes American English redefines a British word to fit American conditions.   If GWB's post about the history of "vacation" is correct, it appears to be a word whose meaning has been extended in the U.S. from its original sense but not in Britain.  That doesn't make it an "American  word" or a corruption of the language, but it does mean that it has a particularly American use or sense that it does not have in Britain.


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## Packard

I found this site for Grifton, the University of Cambridge and they have "vacations" listed there. So it is not strictly speaking an American term.

http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/students/guide/term-dates/

Vacation Residence Staying in Residence outside the Tenancy Period Students are welcome to stay up in College or Wolfson Court during the Long Vacation although please be aware that many of the normal facilities and services may not be available during these times.


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## JulianStuart

Andygc said:


> That is definitely not true. British universities and law courts have vacations, not holidays.


 


Packard said:


> I found this site for Grifton, the University of Cambridge and they have "vacations" listed there. So it is not strictly speaking an American term.
> 
> http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/students/guide/term-dates/
> 
> *Vacation Residence*
> 
> *Staying in Residence outside the Tenancy Period*
> 
> Students are welcome to stay up in College or Wolfson Court during the Long Vacation although please be aware that many of the normal facilities and services may not be available during these times.



Oxford and Cambridge and others have been having vacations for centuries   They used to be called, at least in Oxford (and in legal circles they may have survived longer) after the terms they followed : Michaelmas, Hilary (Lent) and Trinity terms were followed by the same vacations.  Copperknickers was apparently unaware of this and confused some of you   I could therefore, technically, say that I never went "on holidays" while I was at Oxford


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## Brioche

JulianStuart said:


> Oxford and Cambridge and others have been having vacations for centuries   They used to be called, at least in Oxford (and in legal circles they may have survived longer) after the terms they followed : Michaelmas, Hilary (Lent) and Trinity terms were followed by the same vacations.  Copperknickers was apparently unaware of this and confused some of you   I could therefore, technically, say that I never went "on holidays" while I was at Oxford



No-one is disputing that Oxbridge has used the word "vacation" for centuries.  It's just that it does not cover the same range of meaning in BE as it does in AE.

Those Oxbridge dons would say that they were in Antibes "on holiday", rather than "on vacation".

There are many words in BE and AE which have a common origin, but which have changed their meanings over the centuries.
_Grammar school_ in the US is an elementary school; in UK, an academic high school. Neither the current BE nor the current AE meaning corresponds to its original meaning.


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## Thelb4

Here's how it is:

*American English
*as beccamutt said in post 33:

*Holiday* = Christmas, Independence Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Chanakuh, Ramadan, Memorial Day, etc.
_Halloween is my favorite holiday because you get to wear costumes._
_There are many religious holidays in the month of December._


*Vacation* = Time spent away from work usually, and very often involving travel
_Where are you going on/for vacation? _
_I'm going to Italy for my vacation, but I'm going to France on business._
_I have ten vacation days each year (I have ten days off from work each year)._

*British English*

*Vacation* = used only as a noun to refer to the time when official beings (e.g., universities, law firms, parliaments) are vacant._e.g. I had to study harder during the Christmas Vacation to catch up. [a Cambridge University student might say_]
but not_
e.g. I'm going on vacation to the Bahamas_ - this usage is understood in Britain as an American word, but we would never say it unless we were trying to clarify something to an American

*Holiday* = both of the American definitions for "holiday" and "vacation"
_e.g. I can't wait for the summer holidays.
He returned from his holiday in France last week.
_


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## JulianStuart

Brioche said:


> . Neither the current BE nor the current AE meaning corresponds to its original meaning.


 


Thelb4 said:


> Here's how it is:
> 
> *American English*
> *Vacation* = Time spent away from work usually, and very often involving travel
> 
> *British English*
> *Vacation* = used only as a noun to refer to the time when official beings (e.g., universities, law firms, parliaments) are vacant.


My main point in #47 was that both are actually close to the original meaning. In AmE either one's personal workspace or one's home (or both) can be considered vacant when one goes on vacation.  Is that "improper" use of the word?


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## Andygc

Thelb4 said:


> Here's how it is:
> 
> *British English*
> 
> *Vacation* = used only as a noun to refer to the time when official beings (e.g., universities, law firms, parliaments) are vacant._e.g. I had to study harder during the Christmas Vacation to catch up. [a Cambridge University student might say_]


To be picky, that is not exactly how it is. In the specific context of vacation _v _holiday (as opposed to leaving a place empty), vacation is only used by universities and law courts, not by law firms  and Parliament. Lawyers take holidays just like everybody else, which may coincide with the Court vacations and may not. Parliament has a _recess_, not a _vacation_. Courts may also have a recess, but that is not scheduled in the way a vacation is.


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## Rover_KE

I'll wager that many millions of BE speakers live their entire lives without ever uttering the word *vacation*_. . .

. . ._just as they'd never find it necessary to say *sidewalk, diaper* or *sedan*.

Rover


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## natkretep

Rover_KE said:


> I'll wager that many millions of BE speakers live their entire lives without ever uttering the word *vacation*_. . ._
> 
> Rover



But there is a high degree of passive knowledge of _vacation_ (time away from work involving travel), so that the coinage _staycation_ is heard in the UK too, such as the following from the BBC:

_BBC_ News - _Staycations_ 'helping rural train lines enjoy huge growth'
_BBC_ - Radio 2 - Chris Evans - The Great British _Staycation_

Also, an American _holiday_ also doesn't necessarily translate to a British _holiday_, where the latter is always a day off work. So Valentine's Day (an recognised 'special' day, but no time given off work as far as I know) is a holiday in AmE but not in BrE.


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## wudile

According to _The telegraph'_s artical  Mapped: These are the countries with the worst holiday allowances for workers

*Holiday = public Holiday
Vacation = paid annual leave
*
Is it the difference in the UK?


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## Andygc

That is not what the article says. The only occurrence of "vacation" in the article is 





> According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), almost one in four Americans has no paid vacation. Recent government statistics suggest the average private-sector worker in the US receives only about 10 days of paid annual leave and about six paid public holidays a year.


That's the writer quoting an American source.


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## wudile

Andygc said:


> That is not what the article says. The only occurrence of "vacation" in the article is That's the writer quoting an American source.



Thank you Andygc.

But I'm still confused, even got more confused..... I think it'd be better that I use holiday when I talk with a British, and use vacation when to an American.


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## Andygc

wudile said:


> I think it'd be better that I use holiday when I talk with a British, and use vacation when to an American.


If you mean "Are you going to Spain for your holiday?" and "Are you going to Spain on vacation?", or similar questions and statements, then yes.


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## Lun-14

Hi, 

Schools, in Mumbai, have re-opened after Diwali_ holidays_.
Schools, in Mumbai, have re-opened after Diwali _vacations_.

What is the difference between "holidays" and "vacations"?

Would you, please explain it to me?

Many thanks


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## Keith Bradford

Diwali is a religious festival, which is a holy day and therefore a holiday, by definition.

In British English, an official period off from school is also called a _holiday _or (shorter) a _break_.
In American English, I believe, it's called a vacation.
In Indian English...?


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## tomtombp

I'd use holiday in this case.
Vacation is the AmE equivalent of holiday when it's used for off days which are not bank/national holidays.
Another option is break which means the same in both English versions.


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## Barque

I'd use "Diwali holidays".

The word "vacation" implies time taken off from regular work for leisure. A "holiday" could mean, depending on context, either a vacation or a day/days on which workplaces and other institutions are closed for a specific reason (like a festival) and people are given time off.

You don't need the commas in your example sentences and in your question at the end of the post.

_Cross-posted_


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## Dansky

Holiday, for sure.

A vacation means to take time off (from work or school), and at least to me carries a heavy connotation of _going somewhere _to spend that vacation time.  (Although it's not _essential _to go anywhere for it to be a vacation.)


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## JustKate

This topic has come up before, so I've merged Lun-14's thread with one of the earlier threads. I hope the answers to the earlier thread, in addition to the answers your question received, will tell you what you need to know, Lun-14, but if not, you're welcome to ask them in this thread.

JustKate
English Only moderator


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## se16teddy

Packard said:


> I found this site for Grifton, the University of Cambridge and they have "vacations" listed there. So it is not strictly speaking an American term.


Yes, "long vacation" is certainly BE in the sense of the period in summer when there are no lectures at a university. This is not the same thing as a week in Benidorm, which is a BE _holiday_!


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## Saadat.farzaneh

soupdragon78 said:


> Hi titutan.
> Vacation is American English and holiday is British English. Other than that the two words mean the same thing. Which word to use just depends on who you are talking to.
> Hope this helps.
> Soup


Does it mean that in American English always we use *"Vacation"* instead of *"Holiday"*? For example, Do they say *"go on vacation"*, *"public vacations"*, "*Christmas vacation*" etc instead of *"go on holiday"*, *"public holidays", "Christmas holiday"* etc?
Another question: Do American say *"vacations"* such as *"holidays" *or they say "*vacation days*" instead of *"holidays"*?


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## owlman5

Saadat.farzaneh said:


> Does it mean that in American English always we use *"Vacation"* instead of *"Holiday"*?


No, it doesn't mean that.  "Holiday" is a meaningful word in American English, and people often use it.


Saadat.farzaneh said:


> For example, Do they say *"go on vacation"*, *"public vacations"*, etc instead of *"go on holiday"*, *"public holidays",* etc?


Americans don't typically use "go on holiday" to mean "go on vacation."  "Public holidays" is meaningful and useful in American English.  It should refer to holidays that have been established by some act of congress as "public holidays", which are holidays when many people do not have to work as they normally do.  On these days, many people will have the option of staying at home or doing something else rather than going to work as they normally do.


Saadat.farzaneh said:


> Another question: Do American say *"vacations"* such as *"holidays" *or they say "*vacation days*" instead of *"holidays"*?


When they are referring to personal vacation time, Americans typically use "vacation days".  "Holidays" _should_ only refer to days that have been established as "holidays" rather than referring to any type of _personal_ vacation time.


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## Saadat.farzaneh

owlman5 said:


> No, it doesn't mean that.  "Holiday" is a meaningful word in American English, and people often use it.
> Americans don't typically use "go on holiday" to mean "go on vacation."  "Public holidays" is meaningful and useful in American English.  It should refer to holidays that have been established by some act of congress as "public holidays", which are holidays when many people do not have to work as they normally do.  On these days, many people will have the option of staying at home or doing something else rather than going to work as they normally do.
> When they are referring to personal vacation time, Americans typically use "vacation days".  "Holidays" _should_ only refer to days that have been established as "holidays" rather than referring to any type of _personal_ vacation time.


Thanks a lot, dear *owlman5. *


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## natkretep

And in BrE, _vacation _can be clipped to _vac_. I don't think Americans do that. See

vac | Definition of vac in English by Oxford Dictionaries

Lawyers might talk about _vac schemes_.

For school holidays, I hear _break _quite a lot from AmE speakers (spring break, summer break).


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## Packard

The company I work for is owned by a religious Jewish family.  They celebrate holidays that others are not familiar with.  Some years we have 18 days off because of those holidays,  but because they use a different calendar some years those holidays fall on weekends and we get only 1 or 2 days off.

When the holidays come up we send notices to our customers that reads, "Willow Manufacturing will be closes October 12th and 13th in observance of the religious holidays."  I get those days off from work but they are not my vacation.

I take my vacation in the summer and it only overlaps the July 4th as a national holiday.  So in at least my case, holidays and vacations are very different concepts.


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## RM1(SS)

owlman5 said:


> It should refer to holidays that have been established by some act of congress as "public holidays",


Or by state law.  Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday were both observed when I lived in Illinois, but only Washington's elsewhere.  (Illinois was Lincoln's home.)


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## kentix

In the US:

Christmas is a holiday. It lasts one day. December 25th. It is designated by the federal government and all state governments as a public holiday. All non-essential government employees don't have to go to work that day. (Some will go to work because their jobs have to be done even on a public holiday, for instance, guarding government buildings.) The vast majority of businesses also shut down that day. Most people don't work. But some service businesses are open - gas stations, some restaurants, some movie theaters, all hotels, maybe some tourist attractions. (I'm guessing casinos in Las Vegas might be open.)

Because most schools are public schools, which are run by a local government entity (in the U.S.), they also universally have December 25th off. But schools are different than the rest of the government bodies that only have that one-day holiday. Schools traditionally have a longer time off that includes December 25th. It usually lasts around 10 days. That time is called Christmas vacation or Christmas break. Everybody associated with the school - students, teachers, school workers - gets that entire period off because the schools shut down. During Christmas vacation or Christmas break your family might decide to travel to visit relatives or go somewhere touristy. You might go to the beach or go skiing or visit Aunt Edna. That's your personal vacation during the Christmas vacation/break. Everybody from the school is on the break, but not everyone travels. Some people stay home. So they don't "go on vacation" they are just "on vacation". "Did you go on vacation over Christmas break?"

At any other time of year that isn't a designated public holiday (New Year's Day, July 4th, etc.), which all last one day, if you take earned time off from work to go traveling that is called "going on vacation". The rest of your company is still working; you are using personal vacation days to allow you to be away. That is virtually never called going on holiday (except by a few oddballs). 

Public holidays last one day each. You observe holidays, you don't go on holidays. Each holiday has a specific theme or something being honored or remembered. You might plan your personal vacation to coincide with a public holiday but that's a personal choice. For the most important public holidays almost the whole country has the day off. For less important ones, it's mostly government workers, schools, and banks who have the day off.


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## JamesM

RM1(SS) said:


> Or by state law.  Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday were both observed when I lived in Illinois, but only Washington's elsewhere.  (Illinois was Lincoln's home.)



A little off-topic, but we used to get Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday off of school in California, back in the 1960s, and it wasn't because California was Lincoln's home. 

Washington's Birthday is a US federal holiday but it goes by the name "Presidents/President's/Presidents' Day" in 20 states.

kentix's point about a holiday being a single day is a great distinction to make.  We have no official holidays that last more than one day in the U.S., while you might be on vacation for multiple weeks.


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## natkretep

James, your definition of holiday is for days that government offices, schools etc are shut, but some shops might still be open ('public holiday' or 'bank holiday' in the UK). Further up this thread we also have 'holiday' used for days when you don't get time off:


beccamutt said:


> In *AE*:
> 
> *Holiday* = Christmas, Independence Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Chanakuh, Ramadan, Memorial Day, etc.
> _Halloween is my favorite holiday because you get to wear costumes.
> There are many religious holidays in the month of December._


I'm assuming you don't get time off for Halloween. So this is a different use of _holiday_ in AmE? Do you use _holiday_ like this?


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## RM1(SS)

Yes.  Hallowe'en, St Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, Armed Forces Day -- those are all holidays, even though people don't get time off for them.


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## JamesM

natkretep said:


> James, your definition of holiday is for days that government offices, schools etc are shut, but some shops might still be open ('public holiday' or 'bank holiday' in the UK). Further up this thread we also have 'holiday' used for days when you don't get time off:
> 
> I'm assuming you don't get time off for Halloween. So this is a different use of _holiday_ in AmE? Do you use _holiday_ like this?



I agree with RM1(SS).  I do use holiday this way, too.


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## kentix

I'm not sure why, but I would call Halloween a holiday but I wouldn't call Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day a holiday.


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## natkretep

Ah, there is some variation in AmE usage then. For this usage, time off work is a necessary feature for me.


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## RM1(SS)

It's a day on which there is some sort of celebration.


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