Hey guys,
The year's already come to an end and wishing people "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" in different languages made me realize that we have some different "wishing habits" in German.
Those of you who speak German might have read my post on this topic I wrote two years ago in German.
In German, we have two different ways to wish a "Happy New Year".
1. At the end of the old year we say: "(Ich wünsche dir/euch/Ihnen) Einen guten Rutsch!" This means that you wish a good slip/slide.
2. At the beginning of the new year we say: "Frohes neues (Jahr)" which is a literal translation of "Happy New Year"
As you can see, the first one is quite unique. Until now, I haven't come across another language that makes the same distinction. To be honest, I'm writing this post because I wanted to explain why wishing a "Happy New Year" before the new year has started, is very strange to me.
So for now, I wish you:
Guten Rutsch!
Headline image by zacharykadolph on Unsplash
Guten Rutsch, Linda!
Guten Rutsch!
Guten Rutsch!
新年快乐!
Guten Rutsch!
Frohes neues!😁
@Lariza: Danke, das wünsche ich dir auch! (I really appreciate your comment! :))
Linda, sorry for missing two opportunities to wish you a happy new year:(): Funny enough, we have this cute expression in Russian - shtop vsyo bylo kak pa maslou, which literally means “(I wish to you that) everything will be ON THE BUTTER”. It’s said when you want things to go smoothly for someone. So your post somehow reminded me on that idiom. Just note that it doesn’t solely refer to New Year wishes.
Hi Tatiana, thanks a lot for your comment :) In German, we have a similar saying: "Alles ist in Butter." which means that everything is ok, but we don't use it to wish for something.