Fourth of July

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English

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WOTD – 4 July 2022

Etymology

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A Fourth of July (sense 1) fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, U.S.A.

The proper noun is probably derived from the phrase “the fourth day of July”.[1] The common noun is derived from the proper noun.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Fourth of July (plural Fourth of Julys)

  1. The national holiday of Independence Day in the United States, celebrated on the fourth day in July to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.
    Synonyms: Fourth, Independence Day
    • 1911 July 16, “A Saner Fourth”, in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, volume LXX, number 29, Chicago, Ill.: The Tribune Company, Metropolitan Section, page 4, column 3:
      And the Ohio State Journal reports that “it was the hottest, quietest, and safest Fourth of July that Columbus ever had. The firecracker, the gun, and the cannon did not appear, and so there was not an injured or mangled boy or dead body anywhere yesterday as a result of powder patriotism. What a happy condition for the city to be in! What a marked difference from other days, after the Fourth. It seems that these ear splitting and soul stabbing Fourth of Julys are ended; and it is well; it is very well.”
    • 1921 July 2, Annie Hamilton Donnell, “Do-As-You-Please Day: A Fourth of July Story”, in The Christian Herald […], volume 44, number 27, New York, N.Y.: Graham Patterson, page 469, column 1:
      MARY went in to the frail little mother and told her the news through the cotton wool in both ears. Mrs. Davis had no difficulty hearing, so beautifully penetrating is good news. The relief in her pale little face “choked” Mary. / “My dear! You are an angel, there in that white robe! All you haven’t got is wings! If you knew—if anybody but me could know the tortures Fourth of Julys are to me. […]”
    • 2005, Martha Bolton, “Season’s Greetings”, in Growing Your Own Turtleneck… and Other Benefits of Aging, Bloomington, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, →ISBN, page 98:
      Our Fourth of Julys are sounding different, too. Come to one of our barbeques and you might hear “Praise the Lord and Pass the Metamucil” or that ol’ patriotic favorite “Let Eardrums Ring.”

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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Fourth of July

  1. (chiefly US) A cocktail containing one part grenadine syrup, one part vodka, and one part blue curaçao, reminiscent of the red, white, and blue colours of the United States flag, often poured in layers so that the colours do not mix when the drink is served.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “the Fourth (of July), n.” under “fourth, adj. and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “Fourth of July, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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