For the past several years, I have been bothered by people using the word “anniversary” in reference to the date of a terrible event–events like the date Pearl Harbor was attacked or the date the federal building was bombed in Oklahoma.
“Anniversary” is a word I, and many dictionaries, associate with celebrating some special date, like a wedding. Celebrating doesn’t flow from a tragedy. Just the thought is rather repugnant.
When we think of events like Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma Bombing or the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America, we want to remember; but we don’t want to celebrate.
So I’d like to suggest a new word be added to our vocabulary, a word that better represents people’s feelings for the remembrance of Sept. 11 this year. Let’s have an “annimemoriam.” This word reflects the combination of the words “annual” and “memoriam” (from “in memoriam”). The two words combined should be defined as “an annual remembrance of.”
This word, “annimemoriam,” speaks to a solemn respect for those souls lost in such events.
