graveyard month
n.— «February and March are known in the retail industry as the “graveyard months,” the time when wealthy owners find themselves some sunshine on an expensive cruise liner waiting for the spring recovery.» —“Recession’s rocky road” by James Cusick Sunday Herald (Glasgow, Scotland) Feb. 7, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Brian from Lafayette, Indiana, wonders why chicken is abbreviated CHX in the restaurant industry. Using X as a substitute or shortener has a long history. Medieval scribes sometimes drew a line through the final stroke of an abbreviated word. This...
A Winter Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) by Paul Anthony Jones includes some words to lift your spirits. The verb whicken involves the lengthening of days in springtime, a variant of quicken, meaning “come to life.” Another word, breard, is...