According to Merriam-Webster Online, the Word of the Day for Jan 05 is: handsel \HAN-sul\ (noun), meaning:

"*1 : a gift made as a token of good wishes or luck especially at the beginning of a new year
2 : something received first (as in a day of trading) and taken to be a token of good luck
3 a : a first installment : earnest money b : earnest, foretaste"

"According to an old custom in the British Isles, the first Monday of the new year is Handsel Monday, a day to give a small gift or good luck charm to children or to those who have served you well. As long ago as the year 1200, English speakers were using the ancestor of "handsel" for any good luck charm, especially one given at the start of some new situation or condition. By the 1500s, traders were using "handsel" for the first cash they earned in the morning — to them, an omen of good things to follow. Nowadays, it's likely to be used for the first use or experience of something, especially when such a use gives a taste of things to come." (emphasis added by me)

Do you think the homeland Security Service had any idea? Happy F---ing Handsel Day.