Hello,
So since it's still the 1st of January here, I thought I might write something related to the date.
In the course of the day, my friends have been updating their facebook statuses and wishing all their friends a happy new year. I noticed, however, that my Nigerian friends always said "Happy New Year" and most of my non-Nigerian friends tended to say "Happy New Years". My first reaction was "years ke?" Now, I know about New Year's Eve and New Year's Day but the wish was just for the year, right? So why the 's'? Well, I guess that's our gbagaun number 1 and this time, by virtue of being a Nigerian and having lived in that country for a number of years, this is not a gbagaun many Nigerians, if any, are likely to make. Woop!
Err not so fast! I also heard "I don't have any new year revolution this year" when the person meant "new year resolution" . Haha. Nigerians! But while I'm typing this, it suddenly occurs to me that I'm not sure if any of the first letters of the words in "happy new year" should be capitalized just like they are in "Merry Christmas" (at the beginning of a sentence) and merry Christmas (in the middle/at the end of a sentence). I know 'Christmas' is a proper noun and 'new year' is not even though 'New Year's Day' and 'New Year's eve' are but I'm still not entirely sure it's "happy new year!" :s. Thank God google is our friend. *runs off to check*......
...*back*
And there you have it: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Should_new_year_be_capitalized_in_have_a_very_happy_new_year .
When wishing someone a happy new year, no capitalization is necessary but apparently some people wish you a happy New Year's (Day) -i.e happiness for that day/holiday- and that's when capitalization is in order.
And I guess that resolves our earlier Nigerian versus Oyibo people conflict. :-) *Peace in the Middle East*
And so today, I learnt that:
If you are Nigerian or are just used to sending wishes for the whole year, it's "happy new year!" or "Happy new year! (if "Happy" is the first word in the sentence)
But if you have New Year's Day in mind when sending the wish, it's "happy New Year's" or "Happy New Year's" (if 'Happy' is the first word in the sentence)!
So without any further ado, happy new year, people! :-)
P.S : But come oh, I've also seen New Year's resolution. *scratches head*.
So since it's still the 1st of January here, I thought I might write something related to the date.
In the course of the day, my friends have been updating their facebook statuses and wishing all their friends a happy new year. I noticed, however, that my Nigerian friends always said "Happy New Year" and most of my non-Nigerian friends tended to say "Happy New Years". My first reaction was "years ke?" Now, I know about New Year's Eve and New Year's Day but the wish was just for the year, right? So why the 's'? Well, I guess that's our gbagaun number 1 and this time, by virtue of being a Nigerian and having lived in that country for a number of years, this is not a gbagaun many Nigerians, if any, are likely to make. Woop!
Err not so fast! I also heard "I don't have any new year revolution this year" when the person meant "new year resolution" . Haha. Nigerians! But while I'm typing this, it suddenly occurs to me that I'm not sure if any of the first letters of the words in "happy new year" should be capitalized just like they are in "Merry Christmas" (at the beginning of a sentence) and merry Christmas (in the middle/at the end of a sentence). I know 'Christmas' is a proper noun and 'new year' is not even though 'New Year's Day' and 'New Year's eve' are but I'm still not entirely sure it's "happy new year!" :s. Thank God google is our friend. *runs off to check*......
...*back*
And there you have it: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Should_new_year_be_capitalized_in_have_a_very_happy_new_year .
When wishing someone a happy new year, no capitalization is necessary but apparently some people wish you a happy New Year's (Day) -i.e happiness for that day/holiday- and that's when capitalization is in order.
And I guess that resolves our earlier Nigerian versus Oyibo people conflict. :-) *Peace in the Middle East*
And so today, I learnt that:
If you are Nigerian or are just used to sending wishes for the whole year, it's "happy new year!" or "Happy new year! (if "Happy" is the first word in the sentence)
But if you have New Year's Day in mind when sending the wish, it's "happy New Year's" or "Happy New Year's" (if 'Happy' is the first word in the sentence)!
So without any further ado, happy new year, people! :-)
P.S : But come oh, I've also seen New Year's resolution. *scratches head*.
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