Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
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Interesting. The English/AU spelling dictionary (which is apparently what Firefox had defaulted to) didn't know "vacationing," and the English/US version does. I suppose it would be "on holiday" in Australia, so maybe "vacationing" isn't a word there. Anyone want to confirm or dispute?
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I won't say "vacation" or "vacationing" is never used (National Lampoon probably also helped put a dent in that
), but "holiday" is, as you suggest, the word at least I would generally use. For work purposes, I might say "I'm on leave" if I've got time off, and, if going away as well, I would likely also then say I was going "on holiday" or "on a holiday", though "on holiday" I might also use even if I'm just having a break at home. From a school perspective, it's usually called "school holidays" (and "summer holidays" for the big one) rather than any reference to "vacation" at all.
"Vacationing" sounds awkward and...well, pretentious to my ear (
not if used by someone from another culture like your own, but if an immediate, "local" friend or family member used it they would be laughed at and pointed at and derided and beaten with sticks and cricket bats and sheep entrails, and generally continually humiliated until they admitted that they weren't any better than us grubby, muddy, grunting, lesser apes).
'Course, that's just me saying this, and I don't pretend to be spokesperson for the linguists of Oz.
Cheers,
Marc (on permanent holiday)