There
are three variations that can be used for Father’s Day and all to a degree make
sense, but only one is correct.
Modern
usage of the apostrophe means that when there is a tenuous link between
ownership, the apostrophe is no longer used. E.g. visitors book, which has no
apostrophe as no particular visitor owns the book.. Since Father’s Day is not
owned by anyone, it could be Fathers Day with no apostrophe. There are many
fathers so it makes sense to use the plural version and place the apostrophe after
the s, as in Fathers’ Day. However, Father’s Day is an officially declared day
with the apostrophe before the s, which follows the convention used for
Mother’s Day.
Trying
to work out logically where the apostrophe should appear in the case of
Father’s Day doesn’t work. The placement of the apostrophe is a result of how
the day was officially declared.
Some
of you may have noticed recently shops using the apostrophe incorrectly in
their Father’s Day promotions, if you didn’t, you probably will next year.
Kelvin Eldridge
The preferred Australian English spelling.
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