New Year’s is the end of one year and the beginning of another year. There are two years involved—the old one and the new one—but only one of them is new.
That means you’ll never have the occasion to say “Happy New Years.” “Years” is plural, and in this galaxy at least, only one year happens at a time.
What if you’re talking about new years in the plural? Here’s one example:
- “New years always give opportunities for reflecting, celebrating, and resolving to do things differently in the future.”
In this case, the subject is multiple new years, or every single year, at least when it starts. This sentence could also be rephrased to focus on the New Year’s holiday: “New Year’s always gives opportunities for reflecting, celebrating, and resolving to do things differently in the future.”
Note that this version puts the focus on the event of December 31-January 1, instead of every new year. This emphasis is more common. When people talk about a celebration over multiple years, a tradition every December 31, or a generalization about the new year, the term of choice is generally “New Year’s.” This is because in most cases, “New Year’s” is a shortcut for “New Year’s Eve,” and the name of the holiday functions as an adjective.
Examples:
- “Every New Year’s I go to a party and we listen to ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ at midnight.”
- “All New Year’s parties in bars are overpriced.”
Now you’re all set to celebrate New Year’s, start your new year off strong, and resolve to use apostrophes right in all future new years. Oh, and by the way—happy New Year!
If you're celebrating New Year's Eve this year and find a lull in the conversation, impress your family, friends and other party-goers with this New Year's trivia.
- According to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, more vehicles are stolen on New Year's Day than on any other holiday throughout the year.
- Why should you ring in the New Year with family and friends? It is thought that the first visitors you see after ringing in the New Year would bring you good or bad luck, depending on who you keep as friends and enemies. Keep your friends close and your enemies far, far away!
- The Time Square New Year's Eve Ball came about as a result of a ban on fireworks. The first ball, in 1907, was an illuminated 700-pound iron and wood ball adorned with one hundred 25-watt light bulbs. Today, the round ball designed by Waterford Crystal, weighs 11,875-pounds, is 12 feet in diameter and is bedazzled with 2,668 Waterford crystals.
- Due to wartime restrictions , the New Year's Eve ball was not lowered in 1942 and 1943.
- Throughout the year, visitors to Times Square in New York City write their New Year's wishes on pieces of official Times Square New Year's Eve confetti. At the end of the year, the wishes are collected and added to the one ton of confetti that showers the crowd gathered in Times Square in celebration of the New Year.
- The top three destinations in the United States to ring in the New Year are Las Vegas, Disney World and New York City.
- Food plays a big role in New Year's traditions. Eating black-eyed peas, ham or cabbage are thought to bring prosperity. However, stay away from bad luck foods like lobsters, because they move backwards, and chicken, because they scratch in reverse. It is believed that eating these on New Year's day might cause a reversal of fortune.
- In Colombia, Cuba and Puerto Rico families stuff a life-size male doll called Mr. Old Year with memories of the outgoing year and dress him in old clothes from each family member. At midnight he is set on fire - thus burning away the bad memories of the year.
- According to this survey , 40 to 45 percent of American adults make one or more resolutions each year. The top New Year's resolutions include weight loss, exercise, quitting smoking and better money management. By the second week of January, 25 percent of people have abandoned their resolutions.
- In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year's Day as a symbol of good luck for the upcoming year.
If you're hosting a New Year's party, organizing a game or two is a great way to get everyone mingling and break the ice. Here are six New Year's Eve party games that require almost no props or preparation, and will inspire hilarious memories for the year to come.
Highlights of the Year
This is a great game for reminiscing and swapping funny stories from the past year. The host pulls questions out of a hat -- think: when was the hardest you laughed this year, or what was the event that had the most impact this year? You can download 15 free, printable question cards here.
Adult Loaded Questions
If you're not familiar with the board game Adult Loaded Questions, the idea is to test players on how well they know each other through suggestive and silly questions. Examples include: What celebrity would be a great phone sex operator? What would you be willing to do to get out of an expensive speeding ticket? Feel free to DIY your own version with questions that pertain to the year's events -- as long as they uphold the purpose of making your guests blush.
New Year's Eve-Themed Charades
Charades makes the perfect New Year's Eve party game with a little update. Use this list of New Year's inspired words for topics to act out. Throw in a few that are related to popular news or events of the year for an extra chuckle.
The Ultimate Champagne Race
Don't worry; this is not a chugging match. For this one, players race to fill their Champagne flutes using only a teaspoon to transport the Champagne from a bowl to the glass. The first person to finish stands up, and taps his or her glass with the spoon. The winner gets to give a toast for the New Year.
Two Resolutions and a Lie
Based on the popular ice breaker Two Truths and a Lie, this game is a great way to get guests to know each other better over a few laughs. The premise: Guests have to try to figure out what the other guests are lying and telling the truth about. In the NYE version, they'll have to figure out which two resolutions you really want this year, and which one is completely made up.
In a similar spirit, when guests arrive and people are still warming up ask each person to write down five resolutions, each on its own slip of paper, then drop the papers into a hat or bowl. Later in the evening, once everyone's had a few drinks, mix up the answers and pull one slip of paper out at a time and read it aloud. Everyone has to guess or write down who they think made each resolution.
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