# Do you say "Happy New Years"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 28, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941 "2004-12-28T16:08:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/1 "2004-12-28T16:08:49Z")
Do you say “Happy New Years” or “Happy New Year”?
I always thought “Happy New Years” sounded stupid. Therefore, I usually say it and laugh privately to myself.
I don’t really get it. Is it short for “Happy New Year’s Day”.
No one says “Happy Birthdays”.
“Happy New Year” wins hands-down in a [googlefight](http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1=%22Happy+New+Year%22&q2=%22Happy+New+Years%22&B1=Make+a+fight%21&compare=1&langue=us).
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/2 "2004-12-28T19:42:20Z")
I use them interchangeably.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/3 "2004-12-28T20:10:25Z")
“Happy New Year’s” is short for “Happy New Year’s Day”.
You don’t say it on birthdays because birthday already has the day in it.
Duh! 😉
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### Author:  [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/4 "2004-12-28T21:15:54Z")
“Happy New Years” means you are wishing the person happiness in all the New Years to come, as well as happy Chinese New Year, Jewish New Year, etc. etc. It covers every conceivable New Year Celebration for that person for the foreseeable future and wishes them only happy ones. 🙂
I prefer to say “Merry New Year” in a fake African accent a la Eddie Murphy in Trading Places.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/5 "2004-12-28T21:55:47Z")
I say _Happy New Year_. The other one just sounds ridiculous.
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### Author:  [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/6 "2004-12-28T22:09:27Z")
I agree with **Cunctator** I say “happy new year” and “new year’s eve” not “new year’s” . I feel the same about daylight saving, not “daylight savings”.
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### Author:  [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/7 "2004-12-28T22:53:13Z")
Happy New Year.
or sometimes, “Have a Good New Year”
“New Year’s”? BAH!
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/8 "2004-12-29T00:15:27Z")
I have never encountered “Happy New Years” (note lack of apostrophe).
What I hear most commonly, and would say myself, is “Happy New Year” (said like this: “ **Hap** -py New Year!”): the wish is that the whole new year, not just one day of it, would be happy.
But I don’t see anything wrong with telling someone to “have a happy New Year’s” (i.e. New Year’s Day and/or Eve).
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### Author:  [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/9 "2004-12-29T01:09:24Z")
_New Years_ and _Valentimes_, _Kaminski Park_, _Rod Sterling_.
Kidding of course.
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/10 "2004-12-29T01:29:38Z")
Singular, non-possessive.
On the other hand, I have been known to say “Groundhog’s Day.”
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### Author:  [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/11 "2004-12-29T01:36:36Z")
I probably say both. I live in the land of Kroger’s, Meijer’s and a bunch of other places that have no **'s** in their official name, but are constantly referred to as if they did. I’ve always figured “Happy New Year’s” was a related phenomenon.
GT
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-happy-new-years/281941/12 "2004-12-29T02:14:07Z")
“Happy New Year.” One. There’ll be another one next year; don’t rush it.
Or “New Year’s Eve,” or “New Year’s Day” (possessive, not plural).
In our December 1999 concert, my chorus performed the song, “What are You Doing New Year’s Eve.” We had a hell of a time getting the Second Tenors to sing the line “Welcoming in the new year, New Year’s Eve” correctly.