Red Nose day as semi-holiday ?

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keannu

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I read a writing about Red Nose day and it explained it's a semi-holiday. We have the same expression like "semi-holiday" in Korea and does it mean "You don't actually have the day off, just trying to enjoy it?" or "You go to work for half of the day and have only the other half of the day off"? I think the former is feasible.
imp17
 

emsr2d2

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I've never heard or used the term "semi-holiday". Certainly, Red Nose Day in the UK is not regarded as any kind of holiday. It's just a day where some people wear a red nose and do silly things in order to raise money for charity, and in the evening there is a show called Comic Relief where lots of comedians and celebrities perform, again to raise money.

In the UK, a working day is either a working day or a Bank Holiday. It can't be half and half.
 
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Tdol

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I've not heard it called that either, but assume it's because it's a less serious day than normal. You don't get half a day off.
 

keannu

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Who do you think wrote this writing? A Korean or a brit? I have no idea. If what you said is true, this might have been written by a Korean or a brit with his unique expression.

ex)If you travel to the U.K on a certain day in March, you might see everyone walking around with big red balls on their noses. Also on this day, schoolchildren wear funny costumes instead of uniforms, people have crazy hairdos, and comedy shows appear on television all night long. It's called Red Nose Day!
Red Nose Day is a fundraising event run by the chairty organization Comic Relief...Red Nose Day is enjoyed as a semi-holiday in the U.K. It's popularity is growing, and recently other countries like New Zealand have started to copy the idea.
 

Tdol

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comedy shows appear on television all night

This sounds a bit non-native to me, so given the options, I'd go for Korean over Brit.
 

keannu

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Then, how would a native say this?
"comedy shows appear on television all night " => "We can see comedy shows on TV all night long"?
Okay, anyway, a Korean made a mistake using his Korean style expression of "semi-holiday". I will sue the publisher of the English workbook(kidding!)
 
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bhaisahab

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Then, how would a native say this?
"comedy shows appear on television all night " => "We can see comedy shows on TV all night long"?
Okay, anyway, a Korean made a mistake using his Korean style expression of "semi-holiday". I will sue the publisher of the English workbook(kidding!)

"There are comedy shows on TV all evening/night (long)."
 

emsr2d2

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I'm not sure that saying there are comedy shows on all night long really covers it. There are channels on British TV which always show comedy shows all night. The point of Comic Relief is that it is like a really long comedy concert. Lots of comedians do individual stand-up routines, then there are comedy sketches which involve lots of comedians who might not work together very often. There are also very unusual comedy sketches - for example, a few years ago Tony Blair, who was Prime Minister at the time, took part in a version of a very famous comedy sketch of the time. The show usually lasts about 10 hours and the comedy is interspersed with short films showing the people who will be helped by the money which is raised on the night. I think I am right in saying that Comic Relief/Red Nose Day only happens every two years so that people do not feel that they are being asked to donate to charity too often!

During the day and evening of Red Nose Day lots of events take place all over the country. Schools have events where the children come to school in normal clothes instead of uniform, company executives sit in baths full of baked beans, it is hard to explain just how many random and bizarre things are done for charity.

Regardless of all the above information, it's still not considered to be a holiday of any description!
 
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