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Hi all -

What are you doing for spring break?

Killing you for using that phrase.

'Spring Break' is of course an Amerucan phrase, which is why someone is objecting. It's not clear what we should call the 2-weeks hoilday that isn't Easter. The University has used a fixed 2 week holiday, always the last week of March and 1st of April , ever since semesters and modules replaced terms and all-year courses about 15 years ago. Scottish Law has never recognised Good Friday / Easter Monday. These are Episcopalian / Catholic church holidays. Modern Scotland has only regarded them as Bank Holidays, since about 15 years ago, after the Scottish and English banks largely merged. Since it is very near to the Vernal Equinox, ( March 21st), which is the astronomical Spring, we could be really dull and call it a Spring Holiday ! Every northern hemisphere culture has a holiday at this time. This year's Easter is about as late as it can be. (You count from Equinox to the next Full Moon, and then to the next Sunday).

Delts- what do you call it then? "Easter break". "Easter hols". Or perhaps "Spring salvation from semester studies".

oldlag- thanks for the background.

first post - i'm working on travel plans down to London. whatever you do, i'm sure you'll have a good time

Working, postgrads don't get "spring break" or whatever you want to call it.

Easter, even though it doesn't cover easter but then easter moves every year so it doesn't matter. Spring Break is one of these really annoying phrases that brings up the worst connotations of students and humans in general. Get so wasted you don't remember a thing and come back with 3 new sti's previously unknown to science. That's what I think when people say spring break. And also, my holiday is essentially all of April, 7 days of classes just. The rest will be a mixture of visiting St A, home and the girlfriend.

Some alternatives:

* Reading Fortnight

* Mid-Semester Break

* Candlemas Semester Break

* Short Vac (as they do at Oxbridge, although that would apply more to the break between the Martinmas and Candlemas semesters, so perhaps Mini-Vac?)

Although perhaps 'Spring Break' isn't so inaccurate because it will still be Lent.

As this from the Chambers Dictionary attests:

'Lent noun, Christianity the time, lasting from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, of fasting or, more commonly now, going without something, in remembrance of Christ's fast in the wilderness (Matthew 4.2).
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon lencten spring. '

Drinking Doubleweek.

Bibulous Break

Smashed Semester Break

F**ked up Fortnight.

Ratted Recess.

Jolly Jubilee

Tipsy Time

C**nted Celebration.

Before you judge:

"Beer is proof God wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin

So really I was being quite pious.

It is called 'Spring Vacation', see http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/semesterdat ... /keydates/