Holidayed - a valid 9-letter word?

[Alan W]

On Wednesday, in Chi-chat, ensiform said:

Pshaw at the standard 9-letter today. Pshaw, I say.

The word in question was holidayed.

I think you have a valid grievance, ensiform. Although holidayed is fairly common around these parts, it seems that it's much less common in the US. In fact, the usage of holiday to mean a period away from work or studies is labeled by many dictionaries as mainly British, and vacation is much the preferred word. (But what about the 1953 Hollywood picture, Roman Holiday?)

The New York Times index found only three instances of holidayed since 1981, and none of the writers concerned were born in the USA - they were from the UK, Canada and India. (Of course we know that when a US dictionary says "mainly British", it means "mainly not in the US".  )

We try to avoid basing a puzzle on a nine-letter word unless it is reasonably common in both the US and Britain (and hence probably in every other English-speaking country). So holidayed was a mistake - but still, you found it, didn't you, ensiform?

[rogue_mother]

So holidayed was a mistake - but still, you found it, didn't you, ensiform?

I'm not embarrassed to admit I didn't get holidayed. Whether it is mainly British, or mainly British sphere of influence, it is certainly not 'United Statesian.' Ensiform has already admitted that he can't be considered the most reliable arbiter in matters like this, since his father was English, born in India.

(But what about the 1953 Hollywood picture, Roman Holiday?)

Yes, what about Roman Holiday? The director, William Wyler, was from Alsace Lorraine and immigrated to the U. S. in 1920. The film was based on a story by Dalton Trumbo, an American, but the two screenwriters, Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton, were both born in England.

[ensiform]

Well, yes, I found it.  I found HOLIDAY and immediately saw the verb form possibility, but thought for sure it would be one of those rare 9-letter variants, not the common one.  Imagine my shock.

Also, imagine my shock to find that Alan is monitoring and giving valid consideration to our every utterance in the chat box.  Also imagine my shock to see that rogue-mother read and remembered my brief bio of some weeks back.

So just imagine shock in general, I guess.

[Alan W]

Monitoring the chat stream is not such an onerous task while the average number of messages per day is about 1, ensiform! And I have to admit, I wouldn't have responded to your remark if I hadn't found the question interesting. If you'd said, "Why can't we have hndlya, the Slovenian earthworm?" I probably would have turned a blind eye.

[pat]

Well that's probably because it isn't a word, Alan. It's spelt hnmdlya so you couldn't make it out of holidayed anyway.

 

[Steadyguy]

Well that's probably because it isn't a word, Alan. It's spelt hnmdlya so you couldn't make it out of holidayed anyway.

 

Well, in any case Pat, had I have seen such a word (hnmdlya), as a 'touch typist' I would simply have assumed somebody had returned to the wrong 'home keys'.