Take the tour ×  I suddenly find myself trying to describe a
date that's an exact number of years before a scheduled event
and I can't think of a better word to describe it than "pre-
anniversary" or maybe even "preanniversary". Both seem rather
ugly and open to misinterpretation, for example I can see how
they might be interpreted as meaning some arbitrary period or
point in time before a specific anniversary date.  So how might
I be more specific?  Example: something is known to be going to
happen on, say, 20-May-2024. I'm looking for a word to describe
20-May-2023, being exactly one year before (the "minus-oneth"
anniversary). Or other 20th Mays even further back.
share|improve this question Dunno. Something beginning with
'anticipatory', perhaps. –  Barrie England Dec 13 '11 at 12:08 A
few years ago, my then-fiancée and I went away for a "minus-six-
months" anniversary weekend. Not sure about the terminology, but
we decided that it sounded good enough to warrant a mini-break!
–  Paul Spangle Dec 13 '11 at