February 29 is a good day to talk about leap years.
In Russian, a year with 366 days is referred to as “високосный год.” The term comes from Latin ‘bis sextus’ (meaning “second sixth”).
During the time of Julius Caesar, it was decided to add one extra day per year every four years. They started inserting it after February 24, which was considered the sixth day before the beginning of March. Therefore, they began calling the additional day “bissextus,” from which, over time, the Russian word “високосный” was formed.
Traditionally, in Russian culture, a leap year was considered unfavorable for new beginnings, but today this is more of a superstition. What about your country? Что в вашей культуре думают о високосных годах?
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