I guess I'm having trouble with the use of first of June vs. June 1st.

If I said the first of a long line of nitpickers, do you visualize the number 1?

I believe that if the word first was intended to be a date, it would have to be capitalized, no?

If I wrote "im going the First of June" it would mean June 1.
If I wrote "im going the first of June" it would mean the first part, wouldn't it?

Even more perplexing for me would be I'm going the first of 2016. Does that mean I'm going the first day?

apersuader65--If in finance, you said the payment would be made by the first of June, then capital or no capital, by the second of June, that payment would be LATE. :)

If you said by the first WEEK of June, then it's a different matter.

"If I wrote "im going the first of June" it would mean the first part, wouldn't it?"

Not to most people. It would be really odd to capitalize first.

Last weekend (June 5-8) in Rome, we kept on finding ourselves next to American family groups

Given the dates Flanner used in his opening sentence
I thought he would know what I meant by the first of June.

My reply was for the OP.


But American 14 yo's? Is it normal - as till recently it was in Britain - for American parents to take children out of school for family holidays? Or is there some mid-term break I've not previously

No it's not normal for American parents to neglect their child's education to go on holiday.

I love the way we get from Flanner's perfectly reasonable question to discussions about how to manage dates.

BTW June first doesn't mean a date in Brit English just as 6/1 means the 6th of January.

Have a nice day now!

My son, who has a job in educational travel and who has observed this phenomenon, reports that more American female university students have a study abroad experience. Many American college campuses are trying hard to entice male students to study abroad. There are a few theories to this, none proven. One may be that while young university women have friends to go overseas with, men do not. Male uni students also may have jobs which prevent them from leaving, they may be involved in a local activity which they don't want to abandon and these students may not be courted enough by university study abroad programs. Please be aware that I am not saying that young women may not have these limitations as well, this is conjecture.

I realize this doesn't address the direct situation of 14 yo girls with their families, but it does have some correlation.

FWIW, my kids went to high school through 7 June or so. Also, teen boys may be quieter and less noticed by observant travelers than a teen girl.

chart: >>Even by the usual standards of Fodor's, and American reaction to Flanner's often rather direct remarks, this thread is a classic.<<

flanner is reaping what he's sown. How many times have people here asked the most innocuous of questions only to be met by his snotty anti-American bilge? Please. Now he gets to play the innocent lamb?