Honeymoon

[l_h_kings]

Please can someone enlighten me, is this true??
the reason a honeymoon is called a honeymoon is
because couples used to eat (or is it drink??!!) a
teaspoon of honey every day of their honeymoon to
improve their chances of conceiving!!!
(Also do you think that is why poo bear likes it so much?)

[Ashley]

I read before that the word takes its meaning from an allusion to the feelings of married couples changing with the phrases of the moon - but am unsure to the validity of this.

[magicdice]

winnie the pooh is a fictional character (hate to have to break this to you) so he likes honey because the guy who made him up decided that he should

[Chillum]

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon."
courtesy of dullmen.com (sounds like nonsense to me).

[Quizmonster]

The word has been in use in English since the 16th century. 'Honey' conveys a sense of sweetness and 'moon' suggests a period of one month. Put together, they mean that period immediately after a marriage during which the couple's relationship is at its sweetest and most tender.  There is also a suggestion that honey is an aphrodisiac, so newly-weds might have tended to eat it in order to maximise their early marital activities! A more cynical suggestion is that it implies that - just as the moon is no sooner full than it starts to wane - so will the affections of the pair. Take your pick!

[ursula62]

The word can't just be an English fancy though. The phrase for honeymoon in French is "lune de miel" which is a direct translation of the English and the chances of that happening are pretty unlikely unless the word/phrase had an earlier common meaning somewhere back in time.

[Octavius]

As you have all been clearly googling this week, I thought I would add my preferred google-found notion, the Norse one:

The word honeymoon, is actually, �a vulgarization of the Norse word hjunottsmanathr. After kidnapping one's bride, she was kept hidden away until pregnant or her family stopped looking for her, and then was brought back to formalize the wedding.�

Aint that romantik!