A short honeymoon

Why is a honeymoon called a honeymoon?

Hugh Grant gives the best explanation in Four Weddings and a Funeral:

“Well, honey, I suppose, because it’s sweet as honey, and moon because it’s the first time the groom gets to see his wife’s bottom.”

To understand the joke you have to know the meaning of “moon” when it’s used as a verb. If a person moons (somebody), that person shows his or her bottom (to somebody).

Today, most people just think of the honeymoon as a holiday after the wedding. In the past, however, it had a different meaning. In some cultures, couples were given enough honeyed wine for the first month of their marriage — which meant the first month was sweet and happy. More cynical people say the origins of the word lie with the moon, as a marriage resembles the phases of the moon — bright and strong one day, but darker and weaker by the end of the first month.

When we talk about honeymoons for politicians, the last definition is the one that most people think of. In a political context, a honeymoon is the period of time at the beginning of a term of office. Usually, most people make allowances for mistakes during this period, just as a couple on a honeymoon may be more forgiving than they might be later on in their marriage. During a honeymoon period, politicians are given time to settle in and adapt to their new lives and responsibilities, just like a couple on a honeymoon.

Guido Westerwelle and Angela Merkel’s honeymoon period will be short-lived, and probably more bitter-sweet than sweet. If they want their coalition to work, or to last to the end of the term, they will both have to compromise. Most couples come to realize this during the honeymoon.

Will Angela and Guido?