Do you think only editors and proofreaders have the superpower to spot all kinds of boo-boos and inconsistencies? Now you can steal a little bit of their magic by reading this list, also known as a style sheet in the publishing industry.
Here are some fun holiday writing tips and holiday facts for you word nerds and language geek wannabes out there.
Christmas vs. Xmas. Don’t get your stockings in a bunch over Xmas. It’s not a secularized abbreviation of Christmas, contrary to popular belief. It’s simply the combo of the first two letters (chi rho) of the name of Christ in Greek.
However, certain style guides including Associated Press (AP) and The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style (CWMS) aren’t too crazy about Xmas, although the latter is aware of the origin. Spell out Christmas in formal writing. Ditto Saint Nicholas or Saint Nick—Saint instead of St. Otherwise, go on your merry way and write as you wish. After all, Xmas is A-OK according to Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary, strangely enough.
Plurals vs. possessives. Friends don’t let friends write while drunk. So before you go a-wassailing and write your name or someone else’s name on holiday cards, holiday social media posts, or holiday emails, please remember not to turn plural names into possessives. Example: the Smiths, not the Smith’s. If surnames end in -s, -x, or -z, simply add -es: the Joneses, the Mannixes, the Lopezes. For surnames ending in -y, simply add -s: the Murphys. (Nope, no apostrophes here either.)
Possessives, part deux. Speaking of possessives, some holidays do take the apostrophe: New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day. An exception is Veterans Day. It’s a day about them, not a day that they own. Oh, and it’s happy New Year, not happy New Year’s.
More on possessives. Season’s greetings, not seasons greetings. (It refers to greetings of the season.)
General capitalization rule for holidays. Capitalize both religious and secular holidays as well as references to Christmas and Christ (Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Nativity, etc).
Interestingly, we have Christmas and Christmastide, but then again, we also have yule and yuletide according to Merriam-Webster. Yet the American Heritage Dictionary styles them as Yule and Yuletide. Confused yet? Don’t be. The solution is simple: it depends on the style guide you use. For AP style, use Webster’s New World College Dictionary. For The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS or Chicago for short), use Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
More on capitalization. Capitalize as headings (Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings, Happy New Year) but not in running text (merry Christmas, season’s greetings, happy New Year).
Extra: back to the wassailing stuff. Wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon/Middle English waes hael (wæs hæil)—be in good health—said while toasting a mulled wine, ale, or punch. Over time, it came to mean the drink itself, and then it became a verb.
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Enjoy this short list of tips and the celebration—whatever and whichever it may be.
Peace (out) on earth!
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