New Years Eve...

[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

Hi!

I assume the New Year?s Eve is the evening before the first day of the next(new) year, isn?t it?

Well, if my asumption is right I wonder what year it does belong to? I mean, as it is called "New Year?s Eve" does it belong to the beginning or to the finnished year?

Please enlighten me

Michael

[Tamara]

Hi Michael!

As I know, this is just a fixed expression in English - for the last day (evening) of the year. No logic . Just a tradition.

Saving you from my tangled explanation, I can just refer you to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_Eve

Have a (the?) nice New Year Day's Eve

Tamara

P.S. Just a(n off-topic) smile about the expression used in the above article:

[Conchita]

That's an interesting question, Michael -- amazing how our brain works!

Theoretically, 'eve' means 'the night before', so New Year's Eve is the 31st December and belongs on the old year's calendar. Now, could we say it 'belongs' to the new year, too? Well, I should think so, and grammar is on our side here, in that we have a Saxon genitive (not that I'm terribly sure of all this, though!).

[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

Hi Conchita! Hi Tamara!

Thank you for your replies! In German it?s much more easy: The 31st of December is called Sylvester and the evening is the Sylvester-eve and of course belongs to the finishing year!

Michael

[Stew.t.]

Hi Tom

This is a question of similiar words that have been some how put together.

The route of the word eve, means the very edge or the brink (just before the start of sth) The modern meaning is mainly for special celebratory events such as birthdays, Christmas, New Year. However consider this phrase:

e.g. On the eve of the War many children were displaced as they all had to move from their family and city homes to a place of relative shelter.
So it means this happened just before the start of the war.

As opposed to evening which in a pure sense is a time period during a day.

However now there is a cross over and confusion of the two similiar terms.

to clarify

Evening = abend in German
on the eve of = am Vorabend von
on the eve of = am Tag / Tage vor

You just have to delve a bit deeper into the English as well as the contextual not literal translation ; )
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Please meet Stewart Tunncilff

[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

[Prezbucky]

To a bard, "eve" could also actually signify "evening".
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