After a fantastic wedding weekend (I am now incredibly happily married), I’ll take this opportunity to explore a little extra wedding vocabulary – the expression honeymoon period (though it has slightly negative connotations). And I’ll put the expression to use, straight-away, by announcing that as part of my honeymoon period, I’m offering The English Tenses at a discounted rate for all of this week!
What does honeymoon period mean?
A honeymoon is the period of time after a wedding, where a newly married couple takes a holiday, or other break, to spend some time together. In the 19th Century, this holiday emerged as a bridal tour, where the married couple visited friends and relatives who could not attend the wedding.
The word comes from the idea of a waning (that is, decreasing) moon – from the rather negative idea that the blind happiness of a relationship would fade after a month or so, the time it takes for a new moon to arise. In reference to weddings, the phrase is used positively, though, a happy, celebratory time.
In a more general sense, however, honeymoon period can be used to refer to any time of happiness that is likely to fade. It suggests a time of unnatural bliss, where everything seems good and happy because it is new. And it can be applied to many different experiences – if you are madly happy in a new relationship, a new job, a new location, or even with a new product, it can be described as a honeymoon period (your joy at buying a new iPhone might be described as a honeymoon period, for example – in the knowledge that eventually the novelty will wear off).
To celebrate my actual honeymoon, I will be going away on holiday. And to help everyone else celebrate the period, I’m going to keep the price of The English Tenses Practical Grammar Guide down all this week – it won’t return to full price until Saturday 22nd! So if you missed out on the free promotion over my wedding weekend, you can still take advantage of this honeymoon period!
