Sell or Sale?

Tom asks:
Usage of sell and sale:

This is my first sell. Correct if referring to the act of selling?

In contrast to:
This is my first sale. Correct if referring to an event?

My dictionary gives "sell" only as a verb, with "sell" as a noun an obsolete word for "seat" or "saddle" or "place of honour." So your first example should be
This is my first sale.

"Sale" can be an event, like a back-to-school sale or a Boxing Day sale. (For Americans, Boxing Day is December 26 in Britain and Canada. No one knows why it's called Boxing Day.) A newcomer to Canada might go to her first sale at The Bay, a Canadian department store. A visitor to the US might go to his first sale at Target.

But "sale" can also be what a salesperson does. A new realtor makes her first sale when she conducts her first transfer of a house from one owner to another. A writer can produce an article, send it to an editor, and make a sale.

Comments

[Blue]

I believe December 25th is called Boxing Day because that is the day one boxes up items to give to the needy.