January Used to Be #11

Posted by Queuebot in Everything Else on January 13, 2009 at 1:25 pm


The month of January, named for the two-headed Roman god Janus, originally appeared towards the end of the calendar year, along with the equally dark and boing February, the last month of the year.

Then power brokers in Rome decided it would be more politically advantageous to inaugurate their new consuls in January, two months before the country typically went off to wage war in March, named for the Mars, the god of war.  The rest is history.

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COMMENT

9 comments to "January Used to Be #11"

  1. Max Power
    January 13th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    ……………………………………………..

    Really.

    Next you’re going to figure out what “Deci” means? :S

    ..

    Sorry.

  2. Angstrom
    January 13th, 2009 at 2:30 pm

    December was named after Desi Arnaz

  3. Sofar
    January 13th, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    I like how the sixth month used to be called “Sextilis” until Augustus came along.

  4. violet/riga
    January 13th, 2009 at 4:21 pm

    I like the idea of a bouncy February, though it’s not Spring until March.

    (note the “boring” spelling mistake)

  5. HollywoodBob
    January 13th, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    Isn’t it weird how we get our months from Romans and days of the week from the Norse?

  6. ted
    January 13th, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Not really weird, HB.

    The Romans had three named days in the month: Kalends (hence, our “calendar”), Nones, and Ides. They simply counted the days until the next Kalends, Nones, or Ides.

    Months were already named before the collapse of the Roman Empire, and the forerunners of the Germanic languages and the Romance languages parted company. The Roman calendar was retained, but the method for tracking was not implemented until after after that parting.

    Our days are based on the Anglo-Saxons’ language. Most Germanic languages name the days similarly. Romance languages (French, Italian, etc…) use the names of Roman gods.

  7. Agnostic Anarch
    January 13th, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    BOING!

  8. just a guy
    January 13th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    Man, nothing’s worse than it being dark AND boing.

    …

    But, I guess it’s natural for February to be boing, as its right before spring.

    :P

  9. Marilyn Terrell
    January 14th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    Snap! I guess my subconscious just could help putting a little spring in February’s step.
    –Queuebot


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