Fourth of July

Why is that Americans say "the Fourth of July" rather than "July Fourth" for the U.S. holiday on July 4. We usually say "December fifth" rather than "the fifth of December" for "December 5" here in the United States. Does anyone have any idea why we say "the Fourth of July"?

Good question.

Ain't got a clue.

I think I'm more likely to say the fifth of December than December 5th though (wonder if that’s a Southern thing).

Happy Secession day anyway!

Bump

The form that "the Fourth of July" follows is the historical way of forming dates specified by month and day of the month, and such has been conserved in the case of the phrase "the Fourth of July" even though North American English has otherwise largely switched to the form "July Fourth" due to the fixed usage of that phrase as a name for a major holiday.

"Why is that Americans say "the Fourth of July" rather than "July Fourth" for the U.S. holiday on July 4. We usually say "December fifth" rather than "the fifth of December" for "December 5" here in the United States. Does anyone have any idea why we say "the Fourth of July"? "

I've never noticed that you say 4th July differently from the others.

I suppose it's used in a similar way as the exclamation amrk. You pronounce July 4th differently because it's a special day in the American calendar.

I say "July four" (or "July fourth") to refer to the date, and "The Fourth of July" to refer to the holiday. But I usually use the name of the holiday unless I want to emphasize the "date" aspect of it, just as I would normally say "It happens on Christmas" rather than "It happens on December 25". I can't think of any other instances other than Halloween where I do the same thing, though, probably because I can never remember when the other holidays are. Especially those that change every year... I never keep track of when Easter and Thanksgiving are...

- Kef