winterregnum
n. A pause or interruption in a continuous activity during winter or caused by winter weather.
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Etymology
Examples
2015
The period between Christmas and New Year should be called Winterregnum. I'm getting this in early this year.
—Geraint Griffith, “The period…,” Twitter, December 09, 2015
2014
Creeping back on to Twitter. Hello, all. Hope the Winteregnum/Merryneum was a pleasing one for you.
—Ed Stern, “Creeping back…,” Twitter, January 03, 2014
2013
With the ghost of a Christmas hangover slowly receding and the directionless ennui of the Winterregnum period taking hold, what better way to make yourself feel happy than by watching what I am calling The West Derby?
—Thom Gibbs, “West Ham United v West Bromwich Albion: live,” The Telegraph (London), December 28, 2013
2008 (earliest)
@sillygwailo I continue to hold out for "winterregnum"
—Ryan Cousineau, “@sillygwailo I…,” Twitter, December 28, 2008
Notes
For the record, here's a poem titled Winterregnum from a post dated January 19, 2004. Also, you might be wondering about the term Merryneum in the January 3, 2014 citation. It's a befuddling blend of Merry (as in Christmas) and — wait for it — perineum, the area of the body between the anus and the scrotum or vulva. Presumably people (and by "people" I mean the not insignificant tribe who apparently use this word willingly and without embarrassment) see this area of the body as a place where nothing happens, so it becomes a metaphor for the time between Christmas and New Year when nothing happens.
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