Difference between holiday and vacation

Hi,
They can be used interchangeably, but vacation is longer.

Cheers,

Iman

They cannot always be used interchangeably, and vacation is not necessarily longer, except as a word.

In BrE, for example, I can say "Yesterday was a holiday". I cannot say "Yesterday was a vacation". I, personally, would refer to the two days of 25 and 26 December as "the Christmas holiday", these two days being bank holidays - official British holidays. I would probably refer to

Hi fivejedjon,

In BrE usage, Does 'the Christmas holiday' means two days in total, 25th and 26th? And 'holiday' is used instead of 'holidays' in this case? When British people asks: what are you doing in 'the Christmas holiday'? They really mean what are you doing on the 25th and 26th?

Thanks
TN

shininggirl Can we use holiday instead of vacation?

Yes, holiday is the word that is generally used. The word vacation is used in American English, in particular. See this link http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/holiday