Groundhog Day

English

Etymology 1

Proper noun

Groundhog Day

1. An annual festival held in Canada and the USA on February 2 in which the arrival time of the spring season is predicted by whether or not a certain groundhog can see its shadow.
   • 1918 May, Edward W. Nelson, “Smaller Mammals of North America”, in National Geographic‎^[1], volume XXXIII, number 5, page 434:

     The prominence of the groundhog as a popular figure in the country lore of the Eastern States is shown by his having been given a place with the Saints on the calendar, February 2 being widely known as "Groundhog Day." It is claimed that on this date the groundhog wakes from his long winter sleep and appears at the mouth of his burrow to look about and survey the weather. If the sun shines so that he can see his shadow, bad weather is indicated and he retires to resume his sleep for another six weeks. Otherwise, the winter is broken and mild weather is predicted. Even on the outskirts of Washington some of the countrymen still appraise the character of the coming spring by the weather on "Groundhog Day."

Translations

festival

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 土撥鼠日／土拨鼠日 (Tǔbōshǔ Rì)

• Finnish: Groundhog Day, murmelinpäivä
• French: jour de la marmotte (fr)
• Greek: Ημέρα της Μαρμότας f (Iméra tis Marmótas)
• Polish: Dzień Świstaka (pl) m
• Russian: День сурка m (Denʹ surka)
• Ukrainian: День бабака m (Denʹ babaka)

Etymology 2

From the title of the film Groundhog Day (1993), in which a man is forced to live out the same day over and over in a time loop.

Noun

Groundhog Day (plural Groundhog Days)

1. (informal) A situation in which events appear to be repeating themselves in a cyclical fashion.

   Synonym: time loop

   • 2003, Angie Errigo, The Rough Guide to the Lord of the Rings, Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 137:

     Jackson, working on production this summer, sounded very much as if he were missing the trilogy already: "Each movie has a very different tone, feel and structure so I've never really felt like I've been trapped in a Groundhog Day for seven years working on one project."

   • 2011, Cathy Hopkins, Million Dollar Mates: Paparazzi Princess, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     She'd spend ages buying and wrapping presents and never got bored with it like Aunt Maddie did. Aunt M said doing Christmas cards year after year made her feel like she was trapped in a groundhog day.

   • 2011, Jeff Ryan, Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America, Penguin, →ISBN:

     Mario, somewhat infamously, is stuck in a Groundhog Day of perpetually having to rescue the princess from Bowser. Even when the plot is new, the story stays old: Mario stops the big bad and saves the girl.

   • 2023 July 26, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: Rebuild trust or it's game over”, in RAIL, number 988, page 3:

     I went on maternity leave in May 2022, […] More than a year later, and it feels like I'm in Groundhog Day. Nothing has changed. We're still arguing about the same issues, just with a diminished spirit and less sense of optimism. Sadly, I'm not surprised.

Verb

Groundhog Day (third-person singular simple present Groundhog Days, present participle Groundhog Daying, simple past and past participle Groundhog Dayed)

1. (informal) To live out a situation in which events appear to be repeating themselves in a cyclical fashion.
   • 2017 April 25, Cory Doctorow, Walkaway, Head of Zeus Ltd, →ISBN:

     When Dis told her about groundhog daying, named after the old movie, she'd underestimated the way the experience would play out for her, going through the same conversations over again, trying different gambits but ending up in the same […]