Friday, June 25, 2010

Top 10 Words of Summer


#10: Vacation


Inside one cherished word, we find another: vacation's roots include the Latin vacatio, which means freedom.



Originally, vacation simply meant "a respite from something."
In the late 1800s, however, American English gave it the sense it enjoys today – "a break from regular work."


Before that, Americans used holiday (from holy day), as the British still do.

1 comment:

H said...

Isn't a vacation, in itself, a holy day? Amen to vacations. (Except the summer kind where the kids are home and fighting and causing chaos and mayhem.)