Another of my pet peeves is the phrase, “one month anniversary.” How can you have an anniversary after a month? By definition, “anniversary” means “the yearly recurrence of the date of a past event” or “returning or recurring each year.” I know, I know, there’s no good word for describing a one month milestone*. So what’s wrong with simply saying, “We’ve been together for a month?” If you simply must have a word for it, why not coin a new one?
“Anniversary” comes from the Latin annus, for year, and versus, the past participle of vertere, meaning “to turn.” Latin for “month” is mensis, so you could go with “mensiversary.” You’d probably get some PC jackass complaining about gender bias, though, so maybe something slightly more inclusive would be better. How about “lunaversary?” Because you’re looney if you think dating the same person for a month is a huge milestone** anyway. If your relationships are so ephemeral that having one last for a month is cause for celebration, maybe you should be shooting for a long-lasting relationship with a psychologist instead and work out some of those issues that make it necessary to measure your romantic liaisons the same way we measure the progress of infants.
But I digress.
Saying you’re celebrating a “month anniversary” is a bit like claiming a “one year bicentennial.” It’s silly, an attempt to make a relatively minor achievement sound more important than it really is. So knock it off, people.
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* Do NOT post a comment explaining that originally, “milestone” referred only to distance, and that it’s hypocritical to decry one form of broadening the definition of a term by using another word whose definition has been broadened far beyond its original scope. Because if you do, I’ll send Mr. Hammer around to have a little chat with you.
** I mean it. Just don’t.