last post of the year

Word of the Day for Saturday December 31, 2005



Hogmanay \hog-muh-NAY; HOG-muh-nay\, noun:
The name, in Scotland, for New Year's Eve, on which children go about singing and asking for gifts; also, a gift, cake, or treat given on New Year's Eve.





This is Hogmanay, the gifting of another year, the coming of midnight, the darkest hour, before the turn towards dawn.
--John F. Deane, "The music of what happens," Irish Times, December 28, 2000




The biggest celebration in Britain was in Edinburgh, where Hogmanay drew about 200,000 people to a free street party in the city centre.
--"Archbishop of Canterbury calls for greater generosity," Irish Times, Saturday, January 2, 1999