A Holiday Quiz 1

[CajunCenturion]

Which of the following are correct (and why)?

A. Seasons Greetings
B. Season's Greetings
C. Seasons' Greetings

 

[KenCunningham]

B. Because we're talking about a singular season.

 

[AndyWatt]

What Ken said.

Andy
--
"Logic is invincible because in order to combat logic it is necessary to use logic." -- Pierre Boutroux

 

[MakeItSo]

Semantically, B is correct.
Gramatically, B and C are both correct.



[blue]The last voice we will hear before the world explodes will be that of an expert saying:
"This is technically impossible!" - Sir Peter Ustinov[/blue]

 

[mscallisto]

Wow and I thought it would be C because it's possesiveness.
This refers to one particular season and it's greetings.

I got a feeling I'm going to get killed for this response, but this is how one learns!

 

[Thadeus]

it's possesiveness ...and it's greetings

Hello mscallisto,
Just a quick note: it's is a contraction of "it is" and does not denote possessiveness

Both B and C denote possessiveness... the qualifying factor involves whether the possessor (the word Season in this example) is plural or singular.

In my understanding of the term, it could refer to the multiple holiday seasons that overlap at this time of year or the singular winter season. So either B or C.

Just my opinions...

~Thadeus

 

[mscallisto]

I meant the possessivenes of the season (seasons')

 

[Dimandja]

>it could refer to the multiple holiday seasons [...]

You mean, like a list of holiday greetings (Happy Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukah...)? In that case I would say "Season Greetings". To me, "Seasons' Greetings" does not make much sense.

 

[SQLSister]

mscallisto, the possessive of season is season's. The possesive of seasons is seasons'. I agree that b would be the correct form as it is refering in my mind to only one season, i.e., the Holiday Season.

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[mscallisto]

The season is Winter, Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukah are holidays within that season.

C. Seasons' Greetings

I think s apostrophe shows possessiveness for the single season (Winter) to it's greetings.

I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore!!

 

[Stella740pl]

mcallisto,

Apostrophe does show possessiveness. The thing is, where it is placed.
Season's Greetings shows possessiveness to a single season.
Seasons' Greetings shows possessiveness to multiple seasons.

 

[MakeItSo]

My dictionary translated "Season's greetings" in a way, that I might consider it a fixed term.
Perhaps "Seasonal Greetings" might be used as a general term, but "Season's Greetings" seems to always refer to a special holiday season like easter or christmas.

Hmmmm. Perhaps you could really use "Seasons' Greetings", preconditioned your are a travelling salesman and you only see your familiy once a year... you leave greetings for the remaining seasons in advance, like Truman in "The Truman Show"
Good morning! Oh, and if we don't meet again: good afternoon, good evenimng and good night!

:-D

[blue]The last voice we will hear before the world explodes will be that of an expert saying:
"This is technically impossible!" - Sir Peter Ustinov[/blue]

 

[Thadeus]

Season (the noun) as defined by Merriam and Webster:

1 a : a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature <in a season of religious awakening -- F. A. Christie> b : a suitable or natural time or occasion <when my season comes to sit on David's throne -- John Milton> c : an indefinite period of time : WHILE <sent home again to her father for a season -- Francis Hackett>
2 a : a period of the year characterized by or associated with a particular activity or phenomenon <hay fever season>: as (1) : a period associated with some phase or activity of agriculture (as growth or harvesting) (2) : a period in which an animal engages in some activity (as migrating or mating); also : ESTRUS, HEAT (3) : the period normally characterized by a particular kind of weather <a long rainy season> (4) : a period marked by special activity especially in some field <tourist season> (5) : a period in which a place is most frequented b : one of the four quarters into which the year is commonly divided c : the time of a major holiday

A reading of season as only meaning winter, summer, spring and autumn/fall is obviously a narrow reading.

I wasn't really referring to a [singular] list either. So if I'm referring to the Christmas season and the Kwanza season and the Chanukah season when speaking to my employees, I can safely wish them Seasons' Greetings.

~Thadeus

 

[Dimandja]

>So if I'm referring to the Christmas season and the Kwanza season and the Chanukah season when speaking to my employees, I can safely wish them Seasons' Greetings.

And if you happen to have only one employee who is christian, with roots in Israel and Africa (pretty close description of me, come to think of it) you can further save on your "seasons greetings capital", yeah?

 

[wuneyej]

I think "Season's Greetings" is meant to be the politically correct way of saying Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah or Kwanza or whatever holiday it is that you celebrate.

For that reason, my opinion is that "Seasons' Greetings" doesn't make sense. There is one Holiday Season.

 

[mscallisto]

Thanks Stella740pl

Your explanation has convinced me to choose B instead of my original C

The fault with many of these threads is they seldom end with a decision as to who wins, and I'm left (after many days of discussion) still not knowing how to fill out my holiday cards.

 

[CajunCenturion]

mscallisto - You can fill out your cards with either B or C, as either is correct.

There is no question that the term is possessive, so A is eliminated, and the apostrophe is necessary. But is it singular or plural?

Thadeus's first post nailed it. Seasons can be plural referring to all of the indiviudal holiday periods (seasons'), or it can be singular (season's) referring to a single holiday season. Both are equally correct. Use whichever you find more comfortable.

For what its worth, the politically correct choice is generally considered by most grammarians to be "Seasons' Greetings". Using the plural underscores the fact that there are multiple individual seasons, each with its own identity, as opposed to lumping them all together into a single holiday season.

Good Luck
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[Dimandja]

>The fault with many of these threads is they seldom end with a decision as to who wins...

mscallisto, these threads are really not exact science, they reflect real life most of the time. The world is very diverse. I like to think that these threads help bring us closer through awareness and information.

The best way to show appreciation or agreement is by awarding a star, or making a comment about it.

I would seriously be worried if we all agreed on stuff all the time.

 

[Mr3Putt]

For what its worth, the politically correct choice is generally considered by most grammarians to be "Seasons' Greetings". [...snip...]

I strictly disagree. I wish you a greeting for the Season of your choosing.

If you celebrate Kwanza, I wish you Kwanza's Greetings. If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you Christmas' Greetings, etc, etc.

Political rectitude is not something to be considered by "most grammarians". Grammarians concern themselves with grammar, not intent. If my panda eats, shoots, and leaves... that's my responsibility as a pet-owner. If my panda eats shoots and leaves, that is a fine diet. For grammarians, however, either sense is absolutely correct. Until we have determined the intent of the statement, at which time, grammatic aides may be employed.

I stand steadfastly on the side of "Season's Greetings" in a rather vanilla greeting card, adopting no official stance on which season you wish to accept greetings from. I put the onus on the recipient to accept a warm-hearted wish for their well-being, rather than slip into outrage that I've subjected them to a greeting from my Druid Ritualistic season.

Here's a greeting from a season. I didn't say which... you get to pick, but just one.

[red]Note:[/red] [gray]The above comments are the opinionated ravings of Mr3Putt. As such, Mr3Putt accepts no responsibility for damages, real or contrived, resulting from acceptance of his opinions as fact.[/gray]

 

[mscallisto]

Yes I understand but my point is, one should be able to gain something from so much valuable discussion, as I did on this thread.

A star to Thadeus