With all the press coverage yesterday regarding the passing of six months from Sept. 11, I started to notice that everyone was using the word anniversary as in "six month anniversary". Anniversary is defined as the annually recurring date of something. Is there a word that would be used to describe the monthly of half-year recurrence of an event?

"six month anniversary"

This usage has become pervasive. I'm as descriptivist as the next guy (and more so than some I hang out with) but even this one bothers me slightly. I tend to use menseversary but I'm not sure how to spell it. For six month semanniversary might work.

Not over here, it wouldn't - English people can't manage more than three syllables in one word - if you add "sem-" to "ann'ver'sry" it brings it up to four.


EDIT: Sorry - fergettin' me manners! A hearty Welcome to you, Abagogo - enjoy yourself here and don't mind us - we're all mad.

Dear Faldage:

Men Sever Sary, or your menserversary, sounds like a time that a woman got rid of all the men in her life!

WW

Men Sever Sary, or your menserversary,

Interesting typo, Dub-Dub:
your initial Men Sever Sary
changed to Men Server Sary.

Freudian?

Abagogo:

No, there isn't a word. But the whole problem is that the journalists are looking for a way to create a story.

I live in Denver, on the other side of the metro area from Littleton, which is where Columbine HS is. One week after the tragedy both of our local daily newspapers were referring to the one-week anniversary. Two months after they were referring to the two-month anniversary. All of these fabrications are abominable in my not-so-humble opinion, and fostered by laziness and ignorance. (Goshy, I wonder if I should tell people how I really feel!)

There is no reason the copywriters or editors cannot recast the offending sentences to say something like: "It was a week ago today that such and such happened." Or "Tomorrow will mark three months since the tragedy at Columbine High School occurred."

Welcome aboard the board, Abagog! Hope to see you around here a lot, particularly so you can tell us more about this thing you do with the oceans.

TEd

Welcome, Abagogo! "born in the cradle of a hard-wood forest"...sounds good to me! I'm sure our band of Merry Wordsters will beguile you!

And, yes...I noted yesterday's look back as an "observance" (The 6 Month Observance)...something about the word anniversary bothered me in connection with those events aside from the lexiconic inaccuracy. I guess it's because, to me, there is always a positive glint to the word anniversary...a celebratory note as in "wedding," "founding," etc. And, certainly, there should be no celebratory note attached to those kinds of events. Now, there have been many "anniversary" celebrations (see, there's that word celebrate again) recently involving historic events of tragic proportion...like Pearl Harbor and the Normany D-Day Invasion. Perhaps the passage of time can change the celebration to a simple "notation"...but even in the case of Pearl Harbor, I fail to see any celebratory note there. It is an "observance " to me. D-Day, on the other hand, gives some merit to the celebratory in light that it was, despite the horrific events and loss of life, the beginning of the end for a tragic era in our history. So this plays in my mind on a case-by-case basis, I guess.

However, I agree that the press abuses this device heartily just to create a story. Much like the greeting card business devises new "graduations" (kindergarten...huh?) and "traditional" parties (engagement...huh?) just to sell cards and gifts. (The "engagement party" really irks me...I mean, who gets the gifts and the money if they call off the wedding?)

(The "engagement party" really irks me...I mean, who gets the gifts and the money if they call off the wedding?)

Geeeeeez, Wayne, where you been all your life? She does, of course. What made you think there was any question about it?

Oh, and my welcome too, Abagogo/King Canute. Like your style. Do you get to dry your feet off between attempts?

Hi Abagogo ... I notice you're kinda new, although you were here a month or so ago. Humblest apologies for not welcoming you at the time, but I probably wasn't here yet - and if I was, I probably wasn't on the SAWC (self appointed welcoming committee). So, here ya go...

BELATED WELCOME

"six month anniversary" is a pet peeve of mine too. ("Should I go back and log it in those Pet Peeve threads from before?" she thinks, desperately trying to avoid having to get the link...) Nah, LIUYS...

I think we have all the romantics in the world to blame for this usage... you know, when you're so in l-u-r-ve that you count by minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. evil thought... is this because they don't think they'll make it to a 'real' anniversary'? "Oh honey, it's our 2 minute anniversary." ... "Sweetie, look we've made it to our 1 week anniversary! Mwa Mwa!" Ok, so I'm a cynic... but how often have you heard it in that context?

Hev