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V-J Day

V-J Day

1 4.6
The day in 1945 when the Allies defeated Japan at the end of World War II
  • noun
  • /viː ˈdʒeɪ deɪ/
translation icon : Día de la Victoria sobre Japón
  • She knew what was happening; she went to Times Square just to get in on the V-J Day celebration.
  • V-J Day in 1945
  • months after V-J Day
  • just after V-J Day

Examples

  • In September of that year, 1945, I was assigned to London and also detailed as Secretary of our delegation to the first Council of Foreign Ministers, which met in London immediately after V-J Day to try to negotiate peace treaties with Italy, Germany, and the eastern European countries.

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  • Captured in Times Square on V-J Day, 1945, it has become one of the most iconic photographs of American history, symbolizing the jubilation and exuberance felt throughout the country at the end of World War II.

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  • To this day, the individuals in the actual title of the photograph "V-J Day in Times Square" are still contested.

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  • It doesn't matter if you were a man or a woman; V-J Day was a day that seared itself into your soul.

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  • On V-J Day, he was a captain in Army Air Forces intelligence stationed at the Pentagon.

  • The instructions had been delivered by the Emperor in a broadcast just before V-J Day, the first broadcast that any Japanese emperor had ever made.

  • At the end comes a moment of release; such was V-J Day in 1945.

Synonyms

5.3

A day marking the end of fighting between Japan and other countries in World War II

specifies celebration on August fifteenth or September second in 1945

Surface Forms

V-J Day singular
V-J Days plural

Morphology

V-J + day

The segment 'V-J' is an initialism that stands for 'Victory over Japan' and is not compositionally interpretable from its letters by a typical B1 learner; 'day' only indicates an observance and does not supply the missing event meaning. Understanding this term requires specific historical/cultural knowledge of the abbreviation, so the overall expression is not derivable from its constituents.

Etymology

V-J Day comes from the abbreviation V-J, which stands for 'Victory over Japan'. It names the day in 1945 when Japan surrendered and people celebrated, so today V-J Day means the day marking the Allied victory over Japan.