Calling All Grammarians

I think it's probably because the former is shorthand for "my mother's day" or "my father's day", whereas the latter is a day to honour all veterans.

I'm not a grammarian, but I have wondered along similar lines in the past. (I've even looked it up when writing cards.)

OP, I knew a girl once who obsessed over things like that.

R1, I saw your answer online and considered it but can’t wrap my head around the idea that the Mother and Father mentioned on those days are actually referring to singular, specific people not can I that Veterans, because it’s not one specific person or persons doesn’t deserve an apostrophe. It just all seems so untidy!

Of course it was never considered when the holidays were established, but would then the day need to change from Mother’s Day to Mothers’ Day if you have two lesbians as parent?

When I was a kid the old man who was editor of our newspaper led a campaign to get an apostrophe added to the official state name and sign for a street called Womans Club Drive and make it Womans’ Club Drive. As a little gay nerd I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever heard a grownup do.

Am I now to going to have to worry if he was incorrect, or is it a case of Womans’ Club being correct because it not a club for all women, but rather just the ones who belong to the club?

It’s ironic because I currently arguing with some pedant in the JD Vance thread that Kamala is an actual mother, just because her kids are biological, but gained through marriage. I seem to like it one way for that argument but another when it comes to deciding on who gets an apostrophe or not so don’t go on that thread and tattle on me!

I applaud you, OP. 👏

Someone who cares.

Ask Benjamin Dreyer.

OP, Fowler would agree with your "irrational" stance here.

Get over it. Consistency is a needless bugaboo with situational terms such as these.

Otherwise you're going to extend your "research" to Presidents' Day and lose what's left of your mind.

Also, ignore R4, who confuses grammar and her ignorance of it with caring for language. One part of respect for language is respect for established conventions while enjoying the many freedoms of speaking dynamic, evolving English.

I’ve been following this dispute for many years (Mary!).

I think the argument is that veterans is being used as an adjective. Same with signs for Visitors Center, etc.

On the other hand, if an apostrophe is used it should some after the s, as most of these examples are/should be plural possessives.

R7, yes, that argument has been used, but it's really just part of the after-the-fact sputtering over a set convention, about which there is no need or reason (other than serving the hobgoblin of needless consistency.

Anyone who has checked the origins of "Mother's Day" will see that the singular has been the rule since its various early appearances. The singular, I assume, was intended as focusing on the personal spirit of the day, which is about YOUR mother, not everybody else's mothers.

The declaration at the end of your post seems to erroneously determine that we are dealing with adjectives only, rather than the special and peculiar topic of possessive nouns. However, again, when referring to named holidays, an attempt to homogenize their names for correctness' sake ultimately misses the primate of name over syntactical and grammatical norms or convictions.

𝐕𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 (choice a). Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an “s” at the end of “veterans” because it is not a day that “belongs” to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans.