Essential Vocabulary and Culture for Father’s Day

🌟 Episode Highlights

• where Father’s Day started
• why it took so long to become a holiday
• how we celebrate it today

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Transcript

Hello, hello! Welcome or welcome back to English Extras! I’m Jean. I’ve been an English teacher since 2019 and this is the podcast that takes you beyond textbook English. If you want to sound more natural, then you’re in the right place. I’m here to give you real-world English, cultural tips, and smart strategies to boost your fluency. So, are you ready? Let’s learn some English.

Did you know that it took over 60 years for Father’s Day to become an official national holiday in America? This actually surprised me to learn, because Mother’s Day became a national holiday much faster. But Father’s Day, it was first celebrated in 1910 and didn’t get federal recognition until 1972. So, of course, my question was: why did it take so long?

Today, we are diving into Father’s Day culture in America. You’re going to learn where Father’s Day came from, how we celebrate it today, and you’ll pick up some interesting little tidbits along the way. (Tidbits meaning little interesting facts.) 

Let’s start with one determined woman in Washington state.

Let me set the scene for you: it’s 1909 in Spokane, Washington. A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon and thinking about her father, who was a widower. This means that his wife–Sonora’s mother–had died. When a woman loses her husband, she becomes a widow. When a husband loses his wife, he becomes a widower.

Sonora’s mother had died giving birth, leaving her husband to raise six children alone. It occurred to Sonora (meaning, she suddenly thought or realized) that there should be a day to honor fathers like him.

The first celebration of Father’s Day was in June 1910. Local churches gave sermons–meaning, speeches–about fatherhood and children wore roses to honor their fathers. Similar to early Mother’s Day traditions, different colored roses were worn depending on whether their father was alive or not. Red roses were worn for fathers who were still living and white roses for fathers who had died.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson wanted to make it a federally recognized holiday that would be celebrated nationally, but Congress refused. You might think this is a bit odd. After all, Mother’s Day became a national holiday in 1914, but Congress didn’t immediately want to recognize Mother’s Day as a national holiday either. However, Mother’s Day became recognized sooner likely because mothers are largely underappreciated in the public view. 

There was resistance to making Father’s Day a recognized holiday and this resistance was varied: some said the holiday would be too commercial, turning it into just another opportunity to spend money; some said that society already favored men, so why would they need special recognition? (The struggle for the more equal rights we have today was still ongoing at this point in American history.)

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged the states to observe the holiday but it still wasn’t federally recognized. During World War II, the public image surrounding fathers–and the sacrifices they make–became more prominent because so many fathers were sent overseas to Europe or the Pacific to fight in the war. Yet even after the war ended, Father’s Day was still not federally recognized.

Then, in 1972, President Richard Nixon finally signed it into law as a federal holiday. Like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is a floating holiday, meaning that it doesn’t have one, fixed date, but rather takes place at the same time in the month every year. Where Mother’s Day is observed on the second Sunday in May, Father’s Day is observed on the third Sunday in June.

So after six decades of waiting, Father’s Day finally had its official status. But now the question is, how do Americans actually celebrate it today?

Celebrating Father’s Day has two main elements: gifts and activities.

Classic gifts often include: ties, tools, “World’s Best Dad” coffee mugs, cologne, or if your dad is a big sports fan, then some kind of sports-related gift.

Classic activities typically include: going fishing or golfing, going to a concert, grilling or barbecuing, watching a sports event on TV or going to a live sporting event. The family will likely have a big meal either at home or at a restaurant. Like Mother’s Day, restaurants during Father’s Day weekend are often very busy, though the type of restaurant is usually different. Mother’s Day restaurant choices are typically nicer, fancier, whereas popular Father’s Day restaurant choices are steakhouses and sports bars.

Now, personally, one of my favorite things about Father’s Day is the greeting cards. If you’re getting a card for Mother’s Day, it will probably be very sweet, touching, tender, probably make your mom cry. Father’s Day cards, on the other hand, very often skew toward the funny side.

There’s a phenomenon–maybe this also happens in your country–called a “Dad joke.” A Dad joke is usually some kind of pun, meaning a silly play on words. Dad jokes usually make people roll their eyes. It’s considered “corny” meaning not cool, weird, silly. 

I’ll give you an example of a Dad joke. 

“Why did the old man fall down the well?”

(Side note: a “well” is a hole in the ground where you can bring up water from deep underground.)

So, why did the old man fall down the well? Answer: he couldn’t see that well.

This is what we call a “pun.” A pun is a type of wordplay that functions because of words or phrases that have multiple meanings. The phrase, “He couldn’t see that well” can mean that the man’s vision was bad but it can also mean that he was unable to see the physical well–the hole in the ground–in front of him. It’s a pun because both of these meanings work inside the joke simultaneously. 

Personally, I love puns. I think they’re clever and they make me laugh, but most English speakers think they are lame, not cool, corny, and we call them “Dad jokes” because dads seem to be very good at making puns.

So now you know some ways we celebrate Father’s Day, now let me give you some numbers.

According to one source, Americans spend over a billion dollars on Father’s Day gifts every year. According to another source, that number is actually much, much higher.

Apparently, over 70 million greeting cards are bought for Father’s Day each year.

Around 100 million neckties are sold for Father’s Day each year. (I know I definitely bought my dad several ties, so I definitely helped to contribute to that number when I was a kid.)

These numbers definitely paint a picture for just how deeply Father’s Day has become ingrained in American culture.

Now, if you want to be able to talk about your own family traditions, I recommend these phrases: “We always…” For example, we always got my dad’s favorite food for him on Father’s Day. Another is “Our family usually…” For example, our family usually didn’t go to a restaurant for Father’s Day. These phrases are good for talking about your own family’s traditions and not just for Father’s Day, but any occasion.

If you’d like to learn more about American holiday traditions, you can check out the episodes about Mother’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Halloween or whatever tickles your fancy, and keep an eye out for the next holiday episode, which will be about the Fourth of July.

As always, thanks for being here, my friends! Until next time! Bye!