December is a big month for the postal service. Businesses and individuals send holiday greetings to associates, friends, and loved ones! While few people routinely scribe letters anymore, the holiday season is a rare exception.
It’s easy to get caught making a silly error amidst all of the parties, shopping, and other festive commitments. Make sure to reference this post to avoid the three most common holiday card mistakes.
1. Pluralize Your Family’s Name Correctly
Don't add an unnecessary apostrophe to your family name sign-off. When making your last name plural just add a letter "s" at the end. If your name ends in “s,” “x,” “z,” “ch,” or “sh,” add an "es" or opt for a construction like "The Jones Family."
2. Keep Your Commas Straight
Make sure that you place your commas in the correct location in both your salutation and your sign-off. In your greeting, you should place a comma after your name(s). Additionally, you should separate your closing phrase from your name(s) by a comma.
3. Get Your Festive Phrasing Right
While a simple “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Hanukkah!” is easy enough, many people run into trouble with a few other common sayings.
In the phrase “Season’s Greetings,” you need an apostrophe because the greetings "belong to" the season. When it comes to “Happy New Year,” remember that you are wishing your reader happiness in the (singular) year to come, as opposed to in many years. You don't need an apostrophe since there is no possessive in this phrase.
Finally, in the phrase “Happy Holidays,” you are simply wishing the reader happiness during multiple holidays (plural). Once again, you don’t need an apostrophe since there is no possessive here.
Hope that these tips help as you spread cheer this season!