Lincoln's Birthday
2
2.8
- noun
- /ˈlɪŋkənz ˈbɜrθdeɪ/
- US
:
Cumpleaños de Lincoln
- In the past, we celebrated Memorial Day on May 30, whatever day of the week that happened to be, Lincoln's birthday on February 12, Washington's on February 22, and Independence Day, which had not yet gotten lost in a three-day weekend, on July 4; and our public school teachers (only a handful of us went on to the universities) were not reluctant to teach the principles of our government and to tell us that America was the best nation on the face of the earth.
Examples
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The next day was Lincoln's Birthday.
Fiction book (1997) -
They combined Lincoln's birthday with Washington's.
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What is Lincoln's birthday.
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February 12th is celebrated as Lincoln's Birthday in honor of the former president.
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On Lincoln's Birthday, many schools and government offices are closed in the United States.
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In the United States, Lincoln's Birthday is observed to remember the contributions of Abraham Lincoln.
Synonyms
A day when people in the United States remember Abraham Lincoln, often as a holiday
Surface Forms
Morphology
Lincoln's + birthday
This is a straightforward possessive construction meaning 'the birthday of Lincoln' — if a learner knows the proper name 'Lincoln' and the noun 'birthday' they can infer it refers to Lincoln's date of birth or a day commemorating him. The meaning is fully compositional and follows a common cross-linguistic pattern (possessor + birthday), so it is immediately understandable rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
Lincoln's Birthday began as the simple idea of celebrating President Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12. People held parades, closed schools, and made speeches to 'honor' him, so the name now means a day to remember and celebrate Lincoln.