Holidays (Finishing Defect)

In finishing, a "holiday" is a spot accidentally missed or left too thin during application -- a small gap in otherwise even coverage that becomes obvious once the surrounding finish has dried and the missed spot stands out by contrast. The term is shared with industrial coatings generally, not unique to woodworking, and the naming logic (an area that got left out, like a "holiday" from being coated) is more folk-etymology than documented fact, but the practical fix is straightforward regardless of the term's origin: check a finished surface under raking, low-angle light before calling a coat done, since holidays are often invisible from straight-on viewing and only show up once light is skimming across the surface at an angle.