Hallmark holiday
1
6.9
- noun
- /ˈhɔlˌmɑrk ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/
:
fiesta comercial
- Valentine's Day is often considered a Hallmark holiday.
Examples
-
He refused to celebrate what he called a Hallmark holiday, saying it lacked genuine significance.
-
Some people see Valentine's Day as just another Hallmark holiday created to sell cards and gifts.
-
Critics argue that Mother's Day has been turned into a Hallmark holiday by companies profiting from it.
-
Many people view Mother's Day as a Hallmark holiday.
-
Many people believe Valentine's Day is just a Hallmark holiday designed to boost card sales.
-
Critics argue that Mother's Day is a Hallmark holiday that has lost its genuine meaning.
-
Some consider Thanksgiving a Hallmark holiday because of the commercialism surrounding it.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The intended meaning depends on a cultural/brand-specific sense of Hallmark (the greeting-card company) meaning a commercially promoted or manufactured celebration; this is not conveyed by the literal sense 'hallmark' = 'characteristic' plus 'holiday' = 'day off'. A B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would most likely not infer the commercial/brand-related meaning, so the expression is unpredictable and culturally specific.
Etymology
Hallmark holiday comes from the greeting card company Hallmark, which helped make some days bigger so people would buy cards and gifts, and people began calling such days Hallmark holidays when they seemed 'made to sell cards'. That's why the phrase means a holiday seen as 'created mainly to make money'.