Happy Valentine’s Day!
And there’s your answer. For the reasoning behind it, keep reading—because there’s no better day than today to discuss the correct usage of this expression (a greeting you’ll hopefully be hearing plenty of). While we’re at it, we’ll also address that apostrophe.
Valentine’s Day is the shortened version of Saint Valentine’s Day. February 14 is actually the Christian feast day of a holy man who lived and died in the third century. Valentine was his name, not Valentime.
The apostrophe is used to show ownership, because Valentine’s Day is his day. For example, if your name is Joe and the world decided to celebrate a day in your honor, it would be called Joe’s Day.
So where did the incorrect Valentimes expression come from? It probably began as a spoken mistake, a mispronunciation of the n as an m; this began to sound right the more people said the word and heard it that way. Lack of education and correction has likely enforced the error. Additionally, I wonder if perhaps the erroneous reasoning goes that the “times” makes the word sound like it’s time for something—though what that could be is murky . . . celebrating “Valen”? 🙂
As a final clarification, the lowercase word valentine is correct when used as a common noun, such as when the word refers to a sweetheart, gift, or card. Therefore an s (with no apostrophe) will be added on the end to make the word plural when necessary.
To sum all this up in one beautiful, silly example:
Since today is Valentine’s Day (not Valentimes), I gave my valentine one red heart-shaped valentine—and he gave me twenty valentines!
Wishing you a lovely, blessed Valentine’s Day! (And Christian authors, don’t forget to book a proofreading slot for any upcoming romance novels.)
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Tags: Christian proofreaders, Christian proofreading, Valentine's grammar, Valentine's usage, Valentines or Valentimes