Last week after church I wished a friend a belated happy birthday. Her birthday was during the week and I obviously hadn’t spoken with her, or sent her a card, on her birthday. Later I got to thinking about that phrase that most of us use fairly often — “belated happy birthday.”
If you think about it, it really doesn’t make any sense. A person’s birthday, or any other event, cannot be belated since it’s already happened. Seems to me that when you say belated happy birthday, you’re wishing someone to have a good day that is already in the past…
A birthday simply cannot be belated, or postponed, because a birthday is when it is — the celebration may be postponed, but not the birthday.
Oh well, I guess there are more important things to worry about — but with over 40 inches of snow on the ground, I’ve got a lot more time for these mental exercises….
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