The Most Common Grammar Mistakes on Holiday Cards & How to Avoid Them
It’s always fun to receive holiday cards in the mail, especially since no one really sends them anymore. But it’s just as painful to read the envelope or open up the card to find a glaring grammatical error.
Some grammar snafus on holiday cards are simply popular misconceptions. Others will land you on the naughty list.
Don’t let your seasonal sentiment get overshadowed by a slip of the pen. Here are some holiday card tips to make sure you don’t get bogged down by any of these grammar mistakes:
Mistake #1: Holiday Apostrophes
Wrong: New Years Day, Seasons Greetings
Correct: New Year’s Day, Season’s Greetings
Remember: It’s the day of the New Year and the greetings of the season.
Mistake #2: Last Name Apostrophes
Wrong: The Green’s, The Harris’s
Correct: The Greens, The Harrises or The Harris Family
Remember: The last names are plural because a family is composed of more than one person. The apostrophe suggests that one Green or Harris family member possesses something, which is not the case when addressing an envelope or signing a letter.
Mistake #3: Requesting a Response
Wrong: Please R.S.V.P.
Correct: R.S.V.P.
Remember: R.S.V.P. is an initialism for the French phrase répondez s’il vous plait, meaning “respond please.” Keep it as “respond please” and not “please respond please.”
Mistake #4: Holiday Contractions
Wrong: Tis the Season
Correct: ’Tis the Season
Remember: ’Tis is a contraction of “it is.” An apostrophe acknowledges the combining of the two words, just like “it’s” is a contraction of “it is.”
[…] the Christmas season a time to show how much we care? Can we really choose how someone shows love? Writing Christmas cards is only one way to embody the holiday […]
[…] ‘Tis how you write ‘tis. […]