Was there a colloquial meaning to the phrase year of grace in Britain in 1939?

This question sounded important, so I took extra time and skill to answer it. (vrom M.A. in English Studies, 20 yrs teaching English studies)

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the recognized authority in all matters historical to language. I looked for year of grace in it only to find that this was a common designation meaning "year of our lord." The OED says that both designations simply designate the traditional Western calendar of 365 days, with allowances for leap years to be 366). The OED carefully records changes--often nuances--in meanings by showing how words were used differently from one year to another, or one decade to another, or one century to another. According to the OED, there were no substantive changes in meaning in 1939.

In other words, the single most authoritative text is telling you there was no generally significant meaning to the phrasein question in 1939.

But your question astutely asks if there was a colloquial meaning to the phrase. Insofar as I know, this question is virtually unanswerable. Individuals--in all senses of the term--sometimes create special meanings to words. Sometimes entire groups--of 100 or 1000 or 10000 or 100000 or more--elect to create special meanings to words. (Just think of the Nazis as an example.) If it were significant enough to come into print or to be found in subsequently published personal documents, the OED would note it, but the fact that the OED did not uncover it or found it too limited in scope to incorporate does not mean it doesn't exist, just that if the phrase was used differently, it was highly idiosyncratic and of no import on the world stage.

In short to the question of whether there was a colloquial meaning to the phrase year of grace in Britain in 1939, the world's authority says a qualitative no. (The OED doesn't try to include every vagrancy, only the globally or nationally or linguistically important ones.) I tried my best online to find an answer to your question and came up empty, so I'll assure within a 95% certainty there was not a special significance given to the term "year of our grace" in 1939, but that does not preclude individuals or special interest groups developing their own meanings.

I hope my research helped answer your question.

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