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HolidayThe word holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. Based on the words holy and day -, holidays originally represented special religious days. The word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day of rest (as opposed to regular days of rest such as the weekend). In most of the English-speaking world a holiday is also a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation (e.g. "I'm going on holiday to Malta next week"), the North American equivalent being "vacation". However, some Canadians (especially those of English or Irish descent) will use both the terms vacation and holiday interchangeably when referring to a trip away from home or time off work. In Canada and 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) observance or activity. A holiday can also be a special day on which school and/or offices are closed, such as Labor Day. When translated from/to other languages, the meanings of the word "holiday" may be conflated with these of "observance" and "celebration". A public holiday or legal holiday or bank 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 inspiration. "Public Holiday" is the term used in, for example, Australia. "Bank Holiday" is the term used in the UK because on these days the Banks do not by law open for business, which originally prevented the transacting of other commercial business (although some industries in the UK now work through Bank Holidays, including some shops). "Legal holiday" is the predominant term used within the United States of America although "Bank Holiday" is recognized by many persons as referring to the same phenomenon. 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. In late 1990s, the Japanese government passed a law that increased the likelihood of consecutive holidays by moving holidays from fixed days to a relative position in a month, such as the second Monday. Well-known consecutive holidays include: Began at 2000, in the People's Republic of China, Spring Festival, Labor Day and National Day are week-long holidays. In Japan, golden-week, lasting roughly a full week. In Poland during holidays on the 1st and 3rd May, when taking a few days of leave can result in 9-day-long holidays; this is called The Picnic (or Majówka). In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day can occasionally occur in Holy Week, the week before Easter; in this case the three holidays (St. Patrick's Day, Good Friday, and Easter Monday) plus three days leave can result in a 10-day break. In Australia and England, a public holiday otherwise falling on a Sunday will result in observance of the public holiday on the next available weekday (generally Monday). This arrangement results in a long weekend The U.S. Congress 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. Check out the following recipes that are tagged "Holiday":
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