It is time for celebrations, as this week English at Work hits the 100 issue mark. Strictly speaking, it is not an anniversary or a jubilee issue, nevertheless, it is a very special occasion and one in which we pay special attention to very special dates.
An anniversary is the annually recurring date of a past event. Anniversaries celebrate births, deaths, weddings, company foundings or any other kind of special dates. Most often they are associated with weddings and are named after specific colours or materials corresponding to each number. For example, you probably all know that the 25th wedding anniversary is called silver, the 50th gold and the 60th diamond, but did you know that the 14th anniversary is called ivory, the 20th porcelain and 35th coral?
In addition, most big number anniversaries also have special names, but it will suffice to mention just a few: a semi-centennial is another name for the 50th anniversary, a centennial denotes the 100th anniversary and a bicentennial is the 200th anniversary of a past event. E.g. The Centennial Gala Dinner was a spectacular event held at the company’s headquarters in celebration of its 100th birthday.
In Croatian, we often use the adjective ‘jubilarna’ to describe a special anniversary. Use of the English term jubilee is much more limited and refers to a specially celebrated 50th anniversary. In the UK and the Commonwealth countries jubilees have a special significance for the Queen – a silver jubilee is held in the 25th year of a monarch’s reign, followed by a golden jubilee in the 50th year, a diamond jubilee in the 60th year. A platinum jubilee is a celebration held to mark the 70th anniversary of a king or queen in power. E.g. Queen Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee in 1897, and should she still be on the throne at the time, Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee will be in 2012.
