One of the most frustrating things for students of English is the abundance of English vocabulary, with the ratio of several English words to one Croatian one. However, in the following case there is only one English word used for three different things.
Imagine you are telling someone about the length of godišnji odmor you can take in the summer. What do you call godišnji odmor in English? Holiday. What about državni praznik, is it a holiday too? Indeed, a public holiday or simply – holiday. In British English it is called a bank holiday and it always falls on a Monday. And what about praznici for schools and universities? Holiday(s) again.
To sum up, the word holiday(s) refers to:
a) a time of rest from school, work, etc. (praznici, godišnji odmor)
b) a period of time spent in a place other than your home, usually for rest and pleasure (godišnji odmor u smislu putovanja)
c) a fixed date determined by state law when people are off work and children do not go to school, etc. (praznik)
An American equivalent for the first two meanings of the word holiday is vacation.
