vacation/holiday/bank holiday.... and more

As you may or may not know, Am E (which refers to American English) and Br E (refers to British English)

are quite different. Here's just an example.



In UK, you can often hear that your supervisor may not be able to have meetings

with you because she/he is away for holidays.



Holiday (usualy plural) in UK means a period of time when you do not work or study and

do things for pleasure instead.



However, American speakers call this period of time a vacation.

In the US, a holiday refers to a single day fixed by law when people do not have to go to school

or work.



But in UK, this is usually called a 'BANK HOLIDAY.'



Both Am E and Br E also call this a 'PUBLIC HOLIDAY.'



so next time when you read a British guidebook and see this word 'bank holiday'

you will know it does not mean literally.





ps. you can find the above info from Macmillan English Dictionary.